Lotus Blossom
by Byakugan89
Summary: Akimi is his teammate and has had a crush on him for a long time, but he likes another. What happens when his feelings start to change?
1. Chapter 1

(Akimi's POV)

I was doing some late evening training with my team, consisting on Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and myself.

Neji Hyuga is a strong kid with the byakugan, a strong bloodline trait in his family. It gives him a 360 degree line of sight, for several meters all around. He can also see his opponents chakra network and hit thier chakra points. He wears a light colored jacket, and matching pants, his eyes are lavender, with no visible pupil, and he has long black hair.

Lee is a strong taijutsu user. He relys on speed and powerful punches and kicks. He can't use any ninjutsu or genjutus, but he works hard to be the best he can be. He may look weird, but he has a great personality. A heart of gold. He wears a green jumpsuit, he has a bowl cut, bushy eyebrows, but he is still good looking, well, to me he is. I have a big crush on Lee.

My name is Akimi Tatsuku. I have long white hair, and piercing blue eyes. I have the ability to control the elements without having to use chakra, but I can still perform jutsu, too. My favorite jutsu are my special origami jutsu, where I could turn anything I create into a living paper creature. I loved to make birds and watch them fly around my room, or use them to entertain my brothers, Kito and Kiro.

Our Sensei, Maito Gai had told us a few weeks ago that the Chunin Exams were coming up. We are all excited about this upcoming event. We have worked hard on all 18 of our missions, and each of us spend hour on hour on training. When pratice is over for the team, Lee stays here, in the training field to work some more on his punches and kicks. I stay here a little longer to work on my ninjutsu and genjutsu. Then I go home to train with my mother and father on elemental manipulation. I am currently learning the basics of air mastery, but I still work on the other elements (water, earth, fire, and lightning) Neji goes home and trains some more with his uncle.

"I heard that the rookie Genin are entering as well." Lee stated, watching our reactions, right now I was working on my kunai throwing.

"Yeah right, I bet it's just some Jounin trying to boost their egos." I replied throwing a kunai to a target right above Neji's head, hitting it on the bull's-eye. I smirked.

"It is true! And One of the teams are training under Kakashi." Lee told us. This time Neji smirked.

"Well, this is bad for them." Neji replies and we all smirk.

*This is going to be interesting. * I thought as I hit yet another bull's-eye.


	2. Chapter 2

(Akimis POV)

It was finally the day we were suppose to go take the first Exam. I was so excited, Lee and I already knew the skill needed for the first exam, my mother told me a long time ago. We have to cheat without being caught. I told my teammates. Neji was already set because of his byakugans, and since I could control the elements I was set as well, and I decided to help Lee too. I told him how I was going to do it, and taught him how to read the earth like I did. My plan is to use my earthbending to sense, and read the vibrations of a person with the answers, and send them to Lee. So I taught him how to read the vbrations I will be sending him.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! See you after the Exams Kiro and Kito! I called my little brothers ( Kito has brown hair, like my mom and blue eyes like mine, and Kiro has white hair like mine, and red eyes like my dad.)

"Sister! Sister! Good luck!" The 5, and 4 year olds called to me. I hugged and thanked them both.

"Do your best Akimi." Dad said as I waved good-bye to them. I met them, and Lee looked just as excited as I was. Neji just smirked, his 'I'm better than everyone else and I know it' smirk. Together the three of us walked to the acadamey. We walked up to the third floor, Lee was trying to get the Chunin in front of the door to let us in, but they denied us entry into the room we were suppose to go in. Lee was pushed to the floor, and then a new team came to the scene. The team had a boy with raven-colored hair, a girl with pink hair, and a blonde loud mouth boy.

*The raven haired boy must be the last Uchiha. I heard that this clan has a kekkei genkai like the byakugans, but weaker. They have the Sharingan...I wonder...what it can do?* I watched as that Uchiha kid and Neji were just about to kick eachother, but Lee stopped them. Everyone seemed surprised by how fast Lee can move. Like he's magic, one second he's here, the next he isn't. Then Lee blushed at the sight of the pink haired girl.

*He just saw her and he already has a crush on her? (Sighs sadly)*

"Might as well release the genjutsu. We know this isn't the right floor. I bet you already saw that too, Sakura?" Raven hair boy said.

"Uh, yes Sasuke! I did! We are only on the second floor. Naruto, Sasuke lets go." Sakura (pink haired girl) took them.

*Sasuke hm? Yes, he must be Itachi's little brother.* We too, began to leave, but I realized something wasn't right. I turned around to see that Lee had not moved from the spot he was in.

"Come on Lee let's go." I told him.

"You guys go ahead. There is something I need to check out." He replied. I just nodded and left with Neji, while Lee went the other way. I was quiet as Neji and I walked to the third floor of our ninja school.

(Neji's POV)

I watched as Lee kept staring at that girl with pink hair. I glanced over at Akimi, who seemed a bit depressed, but was trying hard not to show it.

*She must have a crush on Lee, but he is too blind to see it.* After the other team left, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, we started to leave. Akimi turned around, and I heard her tell Lee to come on, but Lee said he had to check something out. Akimi and I left, but she remained quiet the whole way, eyes on the floor. My byakugans were on her, watching her, as she quietly made her way to the exam room.

*Lee, your interested in a girl that calls you a weirdo and you don't even realize that your own teammate likes you?* I continued to watch her stare at the ground as we walked on up to the third floor. I walked until we reached the floor where the first exam was to be held, and I stopped. Akimi was down a flight of stairs, staring down while leaning on the rail. I sighed quietly, hating to see Akimi like this because of Lee. I had a strong feeling right then and there that she really did have a crush on Lee, and that seeing him, falling for another girl was tearing her up on the inside.

"Akimi, go get Lee. Tell him that we need to get in there, and that all three of us must be in there or we're disqualified." I told her, looking down at her. She looked up at me, and nodded. Akimi jumped over the rail and landed on the first floor, running on to get our teammate. I sighed again, wondering what she was going to do when she got there. I saw Gai sensei pop up in a cloud of white smoke.

"Neji...where is Akimi and Lee?" He asked.

"Lee said he had to check something, so Akimi and I came up here. Then I told her to get Lee and tell him that we need to get in there by 3." I replied. He nodded and disappeared as I sat down, thinking about my teammates. This reminded me about my cousin, Lady Hinata. She has a crush on a classmate, that Naruto kid. and he is completely clueless. She is to shy and quiet to tell him, thinking that he thinks she's weird or weak, or something. While Akimi, might be a cheerful girl, when she is around Lee, she just can't seem to tell him. Though she isn't quite as bad as Hinata, who blushes and faints everytime Naruto looks her way, but still, I feel sorry for Akimi. Lee is really interested in that Sakura girl, but is too blind to see Akimi, who is pretty depressed with this situation.

(Akimis POV)

I used my earthbending to feel for Lee. I found him in the entrance to the Acdamey, fighting Sasuke and trying to get Sakura to notice him. I sighed sadly, wanting to cry, but I knew this was not the time nor the place.

*I have to stop thinking about this and just focus on the Exam. But how can I...I love Lee, but he doesn't even seem to notice that I exist.* I sighed again, as I then heard Gai sensei yell and hit Lee, then they made up and cried over it. Sasuke left with his team, mentioning the Exams. Gai tells Lee to get to the room, where Neji was waiting, and Lee ran. He ran up to me, and saw the look in my eyes. I had to distract him, before he could say anything.

"Come on, Lee. We need to hurry if we expect to get into the room, we only have 10 minutes before 3." I told him, trying to keep my voice steady as we walked to the third floor to meet up with Neji.

(Lee's POV)

*Akimi sure is acting strange.* I was just about to ask her about it, but she stopped me before I got the chance to say anything.

"Come on, Lee. We need to hurry if we expect to get into the only have ten minutes til 3." Her voice seemed a little shaky, but I decided not to ask her about what was troubling her. We ran to the third floor, and found Neji waiting for us, with Gai-sensei. Neji was leaning against the doorframe, with his arms crossed.

"About time you guys got here." Neji said. Gai looked at us excited.

"Go on and pass these exams with the power of Youth!" Gai Sensei grinned at us. We walked in to see that the room was filled with many tough looking ninja. Some from the leaf, like us, others from villages like the rain village, the grass village, the sound village and a team from the Hidden Sand Village.

"That guy, from the Sand Village...the redhead. We have to be careful around that guy." Akimi said.

"Why?" I asked her. She looked a bit worried.

"I just read his mind...but, it's hard...he has a demon, and he is emotionally unstable. One false move and its game over from him." She replied, in a whisper. *Well, we are just going to have to be careful here aren't we?* We sat down together, waiting from the proctor of this exam. There was still 5 minutes left, we watched as Sakura and her team came in. I grinned, to myself.

*The lovely Sakura made it here.* Then there were 6 other kids, all of this years rookies. 1 girl with bleach blonde hair, wearing purple, grabbed Sasuke from behind. Sakura and the girl were now fighting over Sasuke. I sighed inwardly, remebering what Sakura said. She had called me a weirdo.

*She likes the Uchiha, doesn't she? Of course, he has pure talent, he doesn't have to work hard to be a good ninja. I train constantly to perfect my skills. What kind of girl would want someone like me, when they can have someone like him...or Neji?*

I felt someones eyes on me and glanced over to Akimi, who seemed to be thinking deeply, because of how she kept moving her white hair out of her face. She wasn't smiling though, she seemed, a bit angry, but concealing it well, so it was hard to tell. She watched as a man who called himself Kabuto, walk to the 9 rookies, and talk to them, then a bunch of Sound ninja attacked. Then in the front of the room, a man and a bunch of Chunin popped up, all wearing grey. After telling everyone to calm down, and that there will be no fighting in these exams without permission of the proctor, he began.

"I am Ibiki Morino. Your first exam proctor. Everyone is to bring thier papers, and each of you will be handed a number. This number will tell you where you will sit." He started. When everyone was sitting in their numbered seats, he began talking again. "Here are the rules of this exam: Unlike what you are used to, each of you begin with a perfect score of 10 points. 1. Answer a question wrong and you lose a point. 2. If you are caught cheating you lose 2 points. 3. If you're caught five times you and your teammates are out. The Chunin around the room have been specially trained to catch anything and everything. They will know instantly if someone is cheating. This test is scored on a team basis, meaning that you're whole team passes, or they all fail. 4. If one person scores a zero, the team fails, even if the other two have perfect scores. 15 minutes before the exam is over, you will be given the 10th question. If you answer wrong, you fail, no matter how well you did on the other nine. You have one hour. Began!"


	3. Chapter 3

(Akimis POV)

I looked at the questions, and saw that they would be impossible for most Genin to answer.

*So its true...we are suppose to cheat. So if this is the case, then there must be somone to cheat on.* I lighlty tapped my foot, sending out little waves and I found a chunin, 2 rows in front of me. I used my eathbending to get the answer to the first question from the guy, and wrote the answer. Then I tapped my foot to give the answer to Lee.

~This is Akimi speaking through earthbending~ ^This is lee^

~Lee, adjust your headband if you hear me clearly~ I told him through the movements of my feet. He tied his headband to his forehead.

^what is the answer to question one?^

~8~ I kept this up and soon we had finished the 9 written questions. We still had 20 minutes til the last exam, so I watched how everyone else was doing. A lot of people were getting caught for cheating, most people still haven't figured it out yet. And some did. I saw that Sasuke kid using his Sharingan to copy a person a couple rows ahead of him, then Neji and Hinata were using thier Byakugans to read someones paper, shino was using his bugs, that Ino girl was using her mind transfer jutsu on Sakura, the dog boy was getting the answers from his dog, who was laying on the boy's head. That Gaara kid was using some sort of eye made of sand. and the list goes on and on. Finally, after several people were kicked out for cheating, the last question has arrived.

"Before I give the 10th question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of." Ibiki began

"MORE RULES?" Sakura yelled out, apparently, I am not the only one questioning this.

"These rules apply only to the 10th question. First of all, each of you have a choice of answeringit or not." He told us.

"Each of us? I thought this exam was a team effort!" Sakura asked.

"It is, but if you do not feel up to this question, then by all means, raise your hand."

"Ok, so what happens if one of us raise our hands, what happens then?" The Sand village girl asked, in a cocky voice.

"You're number will be recorded, and you will fail, as with your teammates." Ibibki told us. We gasped.

"Thats bull! There are several people in hear who has taken it before!" The leaf rookie with the dog yelled.

"You guys are just unlucky I guess. I wasn't making the rules before. But like I was saying, if you raise your hand, you will be free to go and you can come next year to retake the exam. But if you decide to stay, and get the question wrong, you will be BANNED FROM TAKING THESE EXAMS AGAIN!" He told us. Several people lost thier nerves and raised thier hands, apologizing to thier team and left. Naruto slowly raised his hand, which surprised me, the way he was talking earlier about beating every one of us. Then he slammed his hand into the desk and made a speech about never giving up or going against his word, that is his nindo, his ninja way. Ibiki seemed impressed and he spoke again.

"I guess there is nothing more I can say other than...THAT YOU ALL PASSED THE FIRST EXAM!"

"WHAT? WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED? WHERE IS THE 10TH QUESTION?"Sakura yelled as everyone else looked up at the proctor, confused.

"There was no 10th question, at least not a written one. Your decision to stay was the answer." He told us, going on to say that in Chunin rank missions, there are many times when you have to make difficult decisions that could end up killing you or your comrades. And example mission is to steal a scroll from an enemy base. The unknown pieces of this sort of mission will include things like, not knowing how heavily gaurded the area you need to get into is, and knowing that they might be expecting you. You don't know how it's going to turn out, so there is the choice of staying, or quitting, but either one can get you killed.

"So the other questions were just a waste of time?" The Sand girl asked again.

"Absolutley not! They had an important overridding purpose. To see how well you can gather information in the most adverse circumstances. Here you were told not to cheat, and that if you were caught, you will fail. I was expecting you all to cheat, but those who were caught did not deserve to be here, and were quickly weeded out. A ninja must be able to gather percise information without getting caught. Not being able to do so, could jepordize, not only the mission but the lives of everyone involved.

I smiled, part 1 is complete. According to my mother, we had two parts left. These were the parts I had no idea about. My parents didnt tell me what the 2nd and 3rd Exam were going to be. Then two kunai knives flew in from the window, and a woman named Anko came in, saying that she was the 2nd Exam Proctor. She looked at us, and turned to Ibiki.

"Have you lost your touch, Ibiki? There are more left, than I would of thought." She told him.

"This years crop seems to be more promising." He replied. She laughed loudly.

"No matter, By the time I'm finished, there will be less than half!" She told him, before turning back to us. "Alright. You maggots have had it easy, but starting tomorrow morning you are going to be on my turf! I have told your senseis where to meet me. BE THERE BY 8AM Sharp!" And she disappeared. I turned to see Lee grinning, and I couldn't help must smile, and Neji was even smirking. We made it. But then, I saw Lee's grin widen as he stared at Sakura, and my smile instantly disappeared. The three of us, got up and left the room to be greeted by Gai-sensei. He beamed at us, asking how we did.

"We passed." I told him, not looking at him, or stopping. I sounded less then excited, and They all noticed.


	4. Chapter 4

(Neji's POV)

I watched as Akimi made her way past our Sensei, who was more than happy to see us.

"How did you guys do?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"We passed." I heard Akimi say, though she sounded much less than me, she sounded hurt, sad. She continued down the steps, leaving us behind.

"Why don't we go eat at Itamirasus Pork shop? My treat." Gai asked, still sounding happy that his team made it to round two. Akimi stopped for a moment as if to think.

"You guys go ahead. I have to train with my parents." She told us jumping to the first level. I watched her leave. *Lee, can't you see what you're doing to her?*

"What about you Neji?" Lee asked me. I glared at him.

"I have more important things to do." I told him coldly, following after Akimi. I ran to the front, but she was nowhere to be seen. I went home, worried about my teammate. *This is not going to end well, if this keeps going on.* I got home, and saw Hinata, my cousin who was part of the main branch of the clan.

"Hinata." I looked over at her, Akimi's friend. "Have you seen Akimi since she left?" I asked her. She glanced up at me and turned away slightly before answering.

"U-um. yes. I-I did. She ran from the building crying. I didn't see where she went, because as soon as she was out of the Academy, she transformed into air." She told me, sounding worried about her friend. "N-Neji-kun. What happened to her? W-Why is she upset?"

"I don't know. But I think it has something to do with Lee, but I'm not sure." I replied, retiring to my room to think.

(Akimis POV)

I ran out of the ninja school as fast as I could. As soon as I was outside I transformed into air and went to the hidden lake I secretly trained in. No one knew of this lake, it was on top of the Hokage mountain, hidden in the woods. I stared at my reflection, just thinking.

*Why does he have to fall for her? Is she more special then I am?* I looked at my reflection, and I could see Lee, I turned behind me and realized thta my mind was playing tricks on me. I knew Lee was nowhere near me. But for some reason I couldn't help but feel like I was being followed. I pulled out some of my specail origami paper and made tiny bugs with them, infusing them with my chakra with the creatures. I sent them out to find my stalker. I looked back at my reflection and saw an image dancing on the water, as if it was standing on the water like it was solid. The image was of Lee running to Sakura. Tears fell from my eyes as I gave an angry cry, forcing the water away from me in an angry wave of hatered towards that brat. I felt small footsteps behind me, so I turned around. I was surprised when one of my bugs brought back Kiro, my youngest brother, who was only 4.

"Kiro." I whispered softly. "What are you doing here?" I suddenly heard my mothers voice, calling for him.

"It's alright mom, Kiro is right here." I called back, my paper bugs leading her to me.

"Akimi, what are you doing here? I thought you had that Exam." She asked when she saw me staring at the lake.

"I did mom. We passed the first exam." I replied. She smiled, but stopped when she saw my expression in the water, like I was sad, like I had been crying.

"Akimi. What's wrong? You passed the Exam, you should be happy, not sad." She asked.

"I'm happy we passed the exam. But..." I trailed off unable to say anything more. Dad and Kito, my 5 year old brother found us.

"Hon, take the boys home, I'm going to talk to Akimi." Mom told him.

"Did she do something wrong?" My father asked. Mom shook her head and motioned him over. He saw my tear stained face and asked me the same thing mom did, but I couldn't answer. I just buried my head into my legs and jumped into the water, needing to cool myself off. I came back up to the surface.

"Akimi, talk to me. Whats wrong with you?" Mom asked me.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I got the idea for this chapter from a movie I watched, but I can't remember the name, if anyone knows the movie, please let me know so that I can give the movie credit.

Thanks!

Jessica

(Sasuke POV)

I was training on the top of the Hokage Mountain, deep into the woods where no one ever ventured. At least, that was what I thought, until I heard two voices. I recognized one to be that girl on the bushy browed Rock Lee's team. I concealed my chakra and hid well in the trees, as she seemed to be talking to a few people. A woman and man were behind her, and two little boys beside her.

"Hon, take the boys home, I'm going to talk to Akimi." The woman said. *That must be her parents, and the boys are probably her brothers. I listened silently as Akimi jumped in the lake. She came up for air and her mother began the conversation.

"Akimi. Talk to me. What's wrong with you?" She asked. Akimi sighed slowly and got out of the lake, catching herself on fire and releasing it, dry and unharmed.

"Its...Lee." She replied. Her mother gasped.

"What happened?" Mrs. Tatsuku asked. Akimi jerked her head in her mothers direction.

"He isn't hurt if thats what you thought." Akimi started, Her mother sighed in relief.

"So what's wrong?" she asked the young Ninja.

"I have a big crush on him...but he is more interested in another girl. A girl on Kakashi's team, who doesn't know him and still makes fun of him. He 's so caught up in trying to get that girl to notice him, that he doesn't even seem to notice that I exist!" Akimi cried out. She got up and ran from her mother, running across the lake, with her hands covering her face as she cries silently. I gave a silent gasp. *That girl actually has a crush on that freak?* I never would have thought...but I won't tell him, even I have more respect for someones privacy. I left and followed the girl, with out being caught, I might not be friends with her, but she is still a fellow Leaf Shinobi. I must at least make sure she is alright. I followed this Akimi girl to the edge of the forest, to a cliff. She jumped off, but when I rushed down to look over, she was gliding down the Earth as if she was controling it herself. She reached the bottom and continued running.

(Akimi POV)

I used my earthbending to ride down the cliff, and continued running to the large lava pit. Where I controlled the fiery lava to make my way across. I ran into the cave that always shoots bolts of lightning at me. I redirected the lightning though, it never hit me once. I finally reached the final obstacle in my way of where I was going, our hidden sanctuary where we kept or most ancient secrets of elemental control. I used by glider and jumped off the cliff, flowing the edge until I got to a large cave entrance halfway down the wall, I flew in and continued gliding until I got to the Outer Sanctuary of the Tatsuku. I stopped there and walked on into the Lightning Room, my natural element. I felt at peace here, relaxed. I fell asleep in here, thinking about the exams, and what I had just told my mother.

(Lees POV)

After eating with Gai-Sensei I was walking around the village, looking for Akimi-chan. I was worried about her, but it was more than just worry, that I was feeling for her, but I had no idea what. I looked everywhere, but could not find her. It was getting dark and I thought, she was probably home by now. I decided to talk to her in the morning and find out what's bothering her. I got in my room, and got dressed to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about Akimi. I finally fell asleep and dreamt of Akimi and Sakura.

(Mrs Tatsukus's POV)

I was telling my husband about what Akimi told me, before she ran off.

"I hope she is alright, she has been gone for a long time. Kiro came in the kitchen, though it was past his bedtime.

"Mommy! Daddy! I know where Sister is!" He told us. My 4 year old son gave me a picture of Akimi, sleeping in the Room of Lightning, in our hidden Sanctuary. The Tatsuku clan are known to have psychic abilities. There are several types of abilities. They are usually remain hidden until a member turns 18, but sometimes, it will reveal itself when it is needed the most. Kiro got his when he was 1, and we were trapped underwater. He is what we call a Watcher, meaning that he can see into the future. He spotted my 13 year old daughter. And my husband went to get her. He is what they call a Pusher. His power is to put thoughts into peoples minds. He lies about something and he can make it seem true to the person he is talking to. We haven't yet found Kito's or Akimi's yet. A little while later, my husband came in with a sleeping Akimi in his arms. He took her to his room, and I took my sleeping son to his room.


	6. Chapter 6

(Akimis POV)

I woke up the next morning at 7. I sat up and realized that I was in my bedroom! How did I get here? I remember falling asleep in the Lighting Room. My parents must of brought me back, no one else get get to that place. Oh well. I got up and got ready. I happily greeted my parents and brothers, and ate breakfast, not knowing when I was going to eat again.

"So where do you have to meet your team today, Akimi?" dad asked me.

"The Forest of Death." I replied. They gave me worried looks. "What?"

"Just be careful okay? And concentrate on the Exam, not on how you feel about Lee. Alright?" My mom asked me. I nodded, and left the house. I ran out the door to meet Lee and Neji at our required meeting spot...the Forest of Death...

I walked up to them and Neji approached me. He pulled me away for a moment to talk without Lee around.

"Akimi, you like Lee. Don't you?" he asked. I stared at him surprised, and could feel y face heat up.

"I-is it th-that obvious?" I stuttered. He merely nodded and continued.

"I could tell by the way you were acting yesterday. I've never seen you liek that before, and I don't want you to be distracted on this exam. We all need to be focuesd, here." He told me, and I nodded, not saying a word.

(Lee's POV)

I watched as Neji led Akimi to talk to her. She blushed at something he said, and she looked surprised. For some reason I felt jealous. Neji was talking to Akimi, and she blushed! *Why do I feel jealous? Do I have some hidden feelings for Akimi that I have yet to discover?* I shook the thought out of my mind, but I still couldn't help it. That thought kept nagging at me. Maybe...maybe I have a crush on Akimi? Suddenly, I felt a little less interested in Sakura, and more interested in my female teammate. I decided that I would worry about this after this exam was over. They came back over to me as the proctor began telling us about the exam.

"This exam is a survival test. You will be aiming to get to scrolls." She held out two scrolls for all to see. One was tan, and had the kanji 'heaven' on it, the other 'earth'. "Each team will get one scroll. If you get a heaven scroll, then your target is the earth scroll. And if you start with the earth scroll, you'll look for the heaven scroll." She held out a map of the forest, for us to see. "In this forest, there is a river, and a tower in the center, 10 Kilometers from each gate. Your objective is to get to the tower with both scrolls in 5 days." the Proctor, Anko, told us.

"FIVE DAYS? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO ABOUT FOOD?" Some Leaf Rookie asked. His female teammate yelled at him, something about how this is a survival exam. Anko chuckled.

"There is plenty of food in the forest for all of you."

"Thats not all there are plenty of...there are also man-eating creatures in there, and poisonus plants in there as well." Sasuke stated emotionlessly.

"This is such a drag..." Another rookie sighed.

"Question!" One kid called out. "What if we decide not to do it? Can we quit mid-exam?"

"Of course you can't quit halfway through the exam! This test to see how well you can endure behind enemy lines. You can't stop half way through a battle and say 'sorry, I quit'. Well, I guess you can, but it's just going to get you killed." The kid moved back, slightly intimadated and Anko continued with the rules.

"There are of course ways you can get disqualified. 1. If you do not make it in the 5 days. 2. if you do not return with the whole team. 3. If one of your teammates becomes incapacitated, or can not go on. and 4. If you peek at the contents of the scroll before you get to the tower."

"What is the scroll opens up by itself and we happen to read it?" Naruto asked.

"Let me put it this way. You. Don't. Want. To. Know." She replied. Naruto started getting all 'you cant scare me away with all your talk' and Anko laughed. "Looks like we got a tough guy. They are always the ones to spill thier blood on the ground in there." And she threw a kunai, slicing his cheek, then came up behind him. She started saying something and a grass ninja came up behind her. She was about to attack.

"I just wanted to return your knife." The grass ninja said, holding the knife with her freaky long tongue.

"Why, thank you Grass Ninja." Anko said,taking the knife back. When the ninja didn't move, Anko went on. "I suggest that you do not stand this close behind me unless you wish to meet a premature death."

"My pardon, but I got a little excited by the sight of blood on your knife." Grass Nin said, retreating back to her team.

"Here, take one of these and sign. Then we will begin giving you your scroll." Anko finished, handing us each a consent form. Neji, Akimi and I sat there reading over the papers and then signed our names. The chunin in charge gave us a heaven scroll and off we went into the forest. I was ahead of my teammates.

"Slow down Lee." Neji told me.

"Yeah, we have 5 days here whether we finish early or not." Akimi agreed.

"This is true, but we are surounded by enemies. I want to find them before they find us." I replied as we jumped from tree to tree. I snuck a peek to Akimi-chan to see that she was staring past me, as if she was thinking deeply.

"Guys...Stop." She told us suddenly. We landed together on the same tree branch.

"What is it Akimi-chan?" I asked her.

"I sense chakra ahead of us, a big fight." She replied. Neji activated his byakugans.

"Yes. I see it. Kakashi's team seems to be having a run in with some Sound Ninja." He told us.

*OH NO SAKURA_CHAN!* I rushed off before my teammates can stop me.


	7. Chapter 7

(Akimis POV)  
I watched Lee run towards the fight, no doubt to protect Sakura. I tried so hard not to show what was happening inside me. The emotional state I was in. I was falling apart on the inside, but, tried hard not to let Neji notice, though that is not easy task, becasue he notices EVERYTHING. I could feel my heart tear in 2 piece. The sadness, one way love, and hurt hit me wave after wave, drowning me. I felt like I really was drowning. Unwanted tears flooded my eyes, making it hard to see. The waves of emotion drowning all thoughts, I had almost forgotten how to breathe. My heart was racing like I had just ran a lengthy marathon. I jumped up higher into the tree, trying not to let Neji see me like this. I jumped to the top of the tree and willed myself to calm down. I used my air control to turn 1 eye into air and sent it to Lee. Even if he doesnt love me, I still want to protect him. He is everything to me, I would rather die, then to let anyone harm him.  
(Neji's POV)  
I watched Lee jump off ahead to help the rookie team. I turned to Akimi, who seemed like she was fighting back the tears that wanted to be released. Whatever Lee did to get her love was beyond me, because he was hurting her deeply, whether he knew it or not. He didnt deserve this, the way he looks at that pink haired Sasuke fangirl, and ignore his own team mate like she doesn't exist. She shouldn't put up with this, she didn't deserve this hurt he was unknowingly putting her through. Her breathing got heavier, as if she had been sprinting for a week non-stop. I was worried she'd pass out, she started to get a bit paler then normal. I hated to watch her fall apart right in front of me. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew that there was nothing I could do to make her feel better. I watched her as she jumped up to the top of the tree. I decided to give her some space, to allow her to relax. Then I jumped back up to her, in time to hear her gasp.

" Whats wrong Akimi?" I asked her.  
"Lee just passed out! There is no one to protect him." She told me. We rushed to our teammate. By the time we got there we saw 3 new rookies finish up the Sound Ninja. Ino...Shikamaru...and Choji. Stuckup girl...Lazy Cloud watcher...and potato chip guy.  
"We're here for our teammate."Akimi told The Leaf Rookies that were up (Naruto and Sasuke were out cold). We picked Lee up and left the spot, moving to a somewhat safer area. I gently laid him down in the grass, and Akimi took care of a few minor injuries he had gotten.  
"Akimi, why do you love him? He is only interested in Sakura." I asked her, she looked up at me and sighed.  
"He was always so nice to me when we were Academy students, the best of friends. When I was upset, he made me laugh. When I was hurt, he could make me forget my pain, and get me to smile. He was, and still is sweet, kind, gentle, polite, but he is also strong, quick, fierce...a great ninja. But now, even though I am on his team, he doesn't even seem to notice me. It's like I no longer exist. He has eyes only for Sakura Haruno..." She replied quietly. She jumped to a tree branch. "Stay here with Lee. Im going to get some water for us." She told me, jumping off before I could say anything. I looked over at the Gai look-alike, laying in the grass, out cold. I was worried about Akimi, she should not run off like this. Lee did, and he was now unconcious. I used my byakugans to keep in eye on her. I saw her stop abruptly, pulling a kunai out of her pouch, and running out of my sight. I was about to get up to find her, but remembered that Akimi had asked me to stay with Lee. I sighed, hoping that she would be alright.  
(Akimis POV)  
I told Neji that I was getting water for us to drink, which wasnt entirely true, I needed to get away from my teammates. I knew this area very well somehow, like I had been here many times before. I heard a lot of noise several meters ahead of me. I grabbed a kunai out of my pocket and ran to that noise. There I saw that red head Sand Genin again, with his teammates. He had his hands raised in loose fists. I turn my gaze to the direction of his hands to see two Grass Ninjas in the air, sand surrounding them, making the only visible part of them thier heads. His fists clench and the Grass ninjas seem to explode, blood everywhere. The Sand Genin left without even taking the Grass ninjas scroll. I hide until I can feel that they are very far away, and I cautiously to the bodies. They had a scroll alright. The Earth scroll. I grinned at the luck and grabbed the scroll, hiding it in my jacket. I ran to the river to get the water, and rushed to my teammates. 


	8. Chapter 8

(Lee's POV)

I started to wake up, wondering where I was, and what happened. The last thing I remember was trying to protect Sakura-chan from those Sound Ninja. I sat up to see that we were in a field, and Neji notices me.

"Are you alright Lee?" He asked, not sounding like he even cared.

*Typical Neji.*

"I am fine, but where is Akimi-chan?"

"She left to get some water from us." He replied, watching the forest, waiting for her to return. I suddenly felt some vibrations in the earth, Akimi was sending me a message.

"Neji, Akimi-chan will be here in a minute." I told him, and he nodded, watching the kunoichi jump from a tree. Neji grabbed a kunai and threw it at her. With a simple flick of her wrist she turned the water into ice and used it to protect herself. He nodded again, as she sent the water back into its container. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR? YOU COULD HAVE HURT HER!" I yelled at him.

"You shouldnt be so quick to let your gaurd down, Lee-kun." Akimi told me, handing me my canteen. I looked at her questionably. "He had to make sure that I am really me. We have enemies all over the place. Someone could of transformed themselves into me and tried to get the scroll or information from you guys. If I was unable to prove that I am who I say I am, then you two would have to fight me."

"Ok, I see your point." I muttered.

"Oh, and by the way... we should start making our way to the tower, as soon as Lee is up to it." She told us.

"What about the Earth scroll?" Neji asked. She grinned...and asked Neji to prove himself. Neji used a quick rotation jutsu. She nodded and threw something to him. His eyes widened. "How did you get an Earth scroll?"

"When I left to get water, I heard some low screams, and saw that sand genin with the gourd use his sand to kill a team of grass ninja. We need to be careful in the next Exam. I bet he will be there...Gaara."

(Akimi Pov)

"Why?" Lee asked me.

"Well, I was returrning here, when I heard to voices close by. I jumped in a bush, as a rock and saw Anko talking to the next proctor." I told them exactly what I heard.

(Flashback)

I hid in the bush and saw Anko talking to some guy that seemed to have a head cold.

"How many do you expect to pass this exam?" the sick guy asked.

"Less than half. Ibiki says that this is a strong group, but most of them lok like a bunch of maggots to me." She replied.

"If what Ibiki says is true, we might need to hold a preliminary round. 1 on 1 fights" The guy said. Anko gave a bloodlust grin.

"There are SOME strong kids in this test. Id like to see them fight. There is one in particular in Kakashis group I want to see."

Sasuke..." Sick guy thought out loud.

"No doubt he will make it to the final round, eh Akno?" He teased.

"You got that right Genma."


	9. Chapter 9

( Lees POV)

"Well, seems like we are one step ahead of the others" Neji states. Akimi nod.

"No one else seems to know yet." She replied. I decided to stand up, and stretch.

"Well, let us be off then! We shall be there by nightfall!" I told me teammates running through the trees. I heard Neji scoff and Akimi giggle.

*Akimi-chan has such a lovely laugh. * We jumped from tree to tree, as they were trying to keep up with me. We finally made it, out of breath. And, if can you believe, we made it with two hours before nightfall! We walked into one of the rooms, and saw a scroll on the wall that had writing.

"If qualities of Heaven is your desire, aquire wisdom to take you mind higher. If qualities of Earth are what you lack, train your body, prepare for attack. If Heaven and Earth are opened together, the perilous path become righteous forever. This is the something way that guides us from this place today." Neji read.

"I think we are suppose to open the scrolls now." Akimi replied. Akimi and I opened the scrolls together. They started smoking.

"Toss the scrolls! Its a summoning!" Neji called, and we quickly threw the scrolls from us and jumped back, ready to attack if we needed to. The white smoke disappeared and I saw Iruka sensei...the teacher we had at the academy. He congratulated us on our success, and he explained the scroll on the wall.

"Heaven is referring to the mind, while the earth is your body. 'If heaven is what you lack. Meaning if you lack intelligence, search for knowledge and prepare yourself for your missions. If you lack earth, or stamina, you must continue to train hard. If you have both traits, you can succeed even the most dangerous of missions." He explained, then he disappeared.

(Nejis POV)

I watched Akimi as she watched Lee when Iruka sensei told us the meaning of the scroll. I wondered what she saw in him. He is nothing extraordinary. He isnt normal, even for a ninja. All he was good at is Taijutsu, and he cant even defeat me. He's weak, but I have learned not to say this when she is around because she is always defending him. But why? Why like a guy who is chasing after a hopeless cause, when there is a girl right beside him who is far better than that Sakura

*I think I like her...no...I have Tenten. I love Tenten...but if this isnt love...what is it? Do I just like her as a friend? I worry about her like a friend would. Yes. Thats it, she is just a friend. And I don't want to see her get hurt.*

We walked out of the room and were given a room on the 2nd floor from the top. The room was more like a small house. A small kitchen (but used only for snacks because there were buffets downstairs everyday), a sitting room a bathroom and three bedrooms. I chose the room on the left Neji got the one in the middle, and Akimi sat her stuff inside the one on the right.

"Well, at least were safe now." Akimi says with a smile, her eyes checking out the room we will be spending the next three days in.

"Yeah, we might actually get to relax before the next exam." Neji says.

"Yes! Now, I just hope to see the lovely Sakura-chan soon! I shall wait night and day for her!" Lee said excitedly. I hear a quick gasp and I see Akimi run into her room, locking the door behind her. I glared at Lee.

"What's your problem Neji?" Lee asked with a little anger in his voice, as he noticed the glare I was giving him.

"I could ask you the same thing." I growled, walking into my room to meditate. I thought about trying to comfort Akimi, but I knew that she needs her space like any other girl. I could hear a few quiet sobs and used my Byakugan to see her lying on her bed crying. 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I don't own the song, Disney does. I just thought the song goes well with the story at this point.

(Akimis POV)

I sat there for a while, letting all my unshed tears go, a song playing in my head. I thought about everything going on. The love I had for Lee, and the fact that he liked Sakura. I dried my tears and decided to work on my shadow clone jutsu. I made three clones to keep me company. The 4 me's went through the open window and climbed onto the roof, staring out at the sunset. I started to sing.

I WON'T SAY I'M IN LOVE

[Me:]

If there's a prize for rotten judgment  
I guess I've already won that  
No man is worth the aggravation  
That's ancient history, been there, done that!

[Shadow clones:]

Who'd' ya think you're kiddin'  
He's the Earth and heaven to you  
Try to keep it hidden  
Honey, we can see right through you  
Girl, ya can't conceal it  
We know how ya feel and  
Who you're thinking of

[Me:]

No chance, no way  
I won't say it, no, no

[clones:]

You swoon, you sigh  
why deny it, uh-oh

[Me:]

It's too cliché  
I won't say I'm in love

I thought my heart had learned its lesson  
It feels so good when you start out  
My head is screaming get a grip, girl  
Unless you're dying to cry your heart out  
Oh

[clones:]

You keep on denying  
Who you are and how you're feeling  
Baby, we're not buying  
Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling  
Face it like a grown-up  
When ya gonna own up  
That ya got, got, got it bad

[Me:]

WRONG: No chance, now way  
I won't say it, no, no

[clones:]

Give up; give in  
Check the grin you're in love

[Me:]

This scene won't play;  
I won't say I'm in love

[clones:]

You're doin flips read our lips  
you're in love

[Me:]

You're way off base  
I won't say it  
Get off my case  
I won't say it

[clones:]

Girl, don't be proud  
it's O.K. you're in love

[Me:]

Oh  
At least out loud,  
I won't say I'm in love

I fell asleep and my clones disappeared. I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me, but I was too exhausted to open my eyes. I figured that my team had been the only ones to make it... after all it was only the first day. There are still 4 days left to the end of the exam. I felt them climb through a window and the person was stroking my hair.


	11. Chapter 11

(~~~ POV)

I was climbing to the rooftop, like I always do, to stare at the moon and stars. I stopped when I heard a beautiful voice singing. It was like the voice of an angel, and three girls that looked exactly like her.

*Shadow Clones. * I thought. I remained quiet as this lovely angel finished her song. The clones disappeared. And the girl seemed to have fallen asleep. It was getting cold out here and I could see her shiver slightly, but it didn't look like she had the energy to get up.

^Why do you care? Just kill her already! ~ The monster inside me told me.

*No. Not right now. This is not the time nor the place for that.* I replied to it as I picked the girl up. I took her to my room, where my brother was still asleep. I quietly laid her in my unused bed and sat down beside her, gently stroking her hair.

*This girl...she sang about love. She loves someone, but they don't love her back...*

(Flashback)

I was on the rooftop of my home crying one night when I was six years old. Suddenly, my sand formed a shield behind me. I looked up to see a man wearing a mask with several kunai floating in front of him. He shot them all at, but my sand shielded me again. Then I started to use Sand Coffin, but it was to weak to kill him. I then noticed a cut on his finger, and I thought that I knew who he was. I cautious walked towards the barely conscious guy. I pulled his mask down and was shocked. It was my Uncle, who has been taking care of me...the man who told me that he loved me...

Then he looked up at me and told me that he hated me... and that my mother gave me my name because it means 'a monster that only loves itself '. Then he blew himself up (again my sand protected me.) That was when I gave myself the love symbol on my forehead, to remember that day.

(End of flashback)

I look out the window to see that the sun is starting to come up and the girl beside me begins to stir. Her light blue eyes open and she scans the room, landing on me. She jumps up and opens her mouth to scream, but I put my hand on her mouth. She sits wide-eyed at me.

"Go...go back to your team before they get up, and don't wake my brother." I tell her. She nods and quietly thanks me, climbing out of the window.

(Neji's POV)

I was just waking up, listening for any sounds from my teammates. Lee rushes in my room, looking worried.

"Neji! Akimi-chan isn't in her room!" He told me. I sat up and looked with my byakugans.

"Relax Lee, she's on the roof." I replied. He jumps out of my window and climb to the roof, with me following.

"What are you doing on the roof Akimi-chan?" Lee asked, I watched as Akimi stared out to the horizon, she seemed to be thinking. She looked up and smiled at us.

"Good morning Lee-kun, Neji-kun. I was just watching the sunrise." She replied.

"But, you weren't in your room at all, where were you?" He asked her. She looked surprised...and a little...alarmed? She shook her head.

"I've been out here all night Lee-kun, I couldn't sleep so I came out here to relax."

"Have you been awake all night?" I asked her. "You look like you could use some rest."

"I have only slept a couple hours last night."

"Then get some rest, when you wake up we will have breakfast for you." Lee told her. She nodded and went into her room, Lee and I followed her. Lee left her room and I shut the door, I needed to talk to her.

"Does this have anything to do with Lee?" I asked her. She looked at me confused.

"What do you mean Neji?"

"When Lee said that he wanted to see 'that lovely' Sakura stuff, you ran in here and locked the door. I saw you on your bed, heard your quiet sobs. I thought that might be the reason you couldn't sleep." I told her. She shook her head.

"It has nothing to do with Lee. I just have had a lot on my mind, mostly these exams...I have a bad feeling about these exams..." She told, yawning. I started to walk out the door.

"Get some rest, Akimi." I told her. She nodded and laid down in her bed. I closed the door behind me and went into the living room to see Lee doing pushups using only his thumbs. He stopped and looked up at me.

"Is Akimi-chan ok?" he asked me, looking towards her door with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, she will be fine, she just needs to get some rest." I replied, leaving the suite to see if anyone else got here.

I looked around 1st floor and saw that the Sound guys got here, and there was also that rookie team with the kid that seemed to be obsessed with potato chips. I heard their conversation.

"Come on Choji! Stop eating for once! I want to see if MY Sasuke-kun is here yet! There is no way Billboard Brow is going to take him away from me!" The blond kunoichi said, hands held together to the side of her face like girls do when they talk about the guys they like. She sighed with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Man…this is such a drag. She has been talking about Sasuke for the past hour." The lazy boy stated in a bored voice. That Choji kid laughed. The girl hit him on the head.

"Ow Ino...not so hard." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head where he was hit.

I left, them and passed my cousins team. I stopped and hid as I heard Lady Hinatas quiet voice.

"I-I hope that Na-Naruto-kun makes it back safely." She stated, tapping her fingers nervously.

"Yeah, and why's that?" The boy with the dog asked. She looked up and took a sharp breath, as if the question had surprised her.

"W-well...it would b-be nice if we all made it t-to the finals. A-all 9 of us." She replied, covering up the fact that she had a crush on him.

"The only one I want to see is Ino." Dog-boy said, drooling.

I thought about everything I knew about the crushes of the Leaf ninja in the exam...

* We have Hinata that likes Naruto. But Naruto likes Sakura...who in turn likes Sasuke. Then there is Kiba, who likes Ino, but she also likes Sasuke...And of course there is Akimi, who has a crush on Lee (though I really don't know why). But Lee is only interested in Sakura...This is more complicated then I thought.*

I walked back up to the suite my team and I were to stay for the next 3 days. I got up there to see Akimi talking to Lee as she worked on her water manipulation and air manipulation, pretty much the only things she could work on right now. Lee was grinning as he watched her train, then went on doing his pushups and sit-ups. They both looked over when the realized that I was back.

"What's up Neji?" Akimi asked me.

"Just checking things out. Almost all of the rookie teams have made it." I replied.

"Is Sakura-chan here?" Lee asked, excitedly and I watched Akimis face fall, unnoticed by Lee.

"No, her team hasn't made it here yet." I replied. Akimi looked a little relaxed, and she motioned for us to sit down. And she looked like she had something important for us to discuss.


	12. Chapter 12

(Akimis POV)

"Guys. I think it is time for us to think about how we are going to do the third exam." Akimi started.

"What do you mean? Can't we just work as a team like we did here?" Lee asked.

"Don't you remember that the next test is '1 on 1 fights'? We can't team up and help each other. We have to prove that we can fight alone if we need to. As a chunnin we aren't always going to have a team to help us. We might have to fight alone, and there is also the chance that we might next to protect our comrades if they need it." Neji replied. I nodded.

"And there is no doubt in my mind that It is going to be only the toughest of ninja. We need to be prepared for anything." I stated. "We don't know who we will have to fight, and we need to be careful."

"I see. This is what a true mission is about. We don't know who our opponent is. What their fighting style is, thier moves. The uncertainty. Just like a mission will be like for a ninja." Lee stated.

"I believe this is all the Chunin exam is. A big mission." I looked thoughtful. The guys turned to me confused.

"What do you mean by that?" Lee asked, Neji was trying to figure it out. I sighed.

"The first Exam. Remember what Ibiki told us?" I asked them. "The example he gave us?"

(Flashback)

"Let's say you guys become Chuunins. Your mission is to steal a secret document. And of course there are traps set all around you. You are in an unfamiliar territoy. Enemies hiding all around you. You dont know how many there are. You don't know what their styles and attacks are. You don't know what traps they have set up and where. So what do you do? Can you avoid these dangerous missions? NO! These are the things Chunnin captains face on every mission. The ability to be courageous, and survive any hardship. These are the traits of a Chuunin." Ibiki told the 78 Genin in that room.

(End flashback-Akimis POV)

"Yeah, so?" Neji asked.

"Well, what if this whole thing is a mission? The whole Exam?" I asked them. The boys glanced at each other, neither of them getting my point. I sighed again...perhaps they are not awake enough yet to be thinking like this. "The first Exam, we had to gather information. The second, we had to steal scrolls from other teams. Then next we have to fight. This is looking exactly like the missions my parents have told me stories about. My father had a mission once where he had to go to the Hidden Rain Village to gather information and steal a couple of important forbidden scrolls they had taken from us. There were about 20 ninja around my father and his team, ready to ambush them. They had to fight under the same unknown circumstances we are having in these exams. They fought, and got the scrolls back here. It's the same thing!" Neji and Lee looked like the figured out exactly what I was saying. And we each decided to spend the next three days coming up with our own plans, and training. We went to our own rooms and started brainstorming.

(Lees POV)

I went to my room and took out all the notes I had made while Gai-sensei was training me. I had notes on taijutsu, speed, and all of the techniques he taught me. I also had all of the notes on how to get girls, and the dating advice I got from my sensei. I looked over each of my notes and trained hard in my room, doing pushups and sit-up. Kicks and punches. It was about three hours into the training when I decided to think about my how I would fight, depending on whom I am to fight. But I found this to be impossible. There is no way for me to figure out what kind of moves would work against whom. So I decided to think about the strength of each of my attacks.

(Neji POV)

I already knew my fighting style. So all I had to do was train a bit, and think about the exams. But then my mind began to wander back to my teammates. And the whole love thing that everyone seemed to be having problems with. Everyone seemed to be interested in the wrong person. It is a never-ending cycle in the Leaf Village for the Genin...but there were a few that are left out of the mess. I am one of the few not in this love mess. Then there is also that lazy boy, Shikamaru Nara., and the bug boy, Shino Aburame. After this Exam thing is over with, I'm helping Akimi get Lee, and Hinata get Naruto. Then maybe I can find the decent girl destiny has in store for me.

(Akimis POV)

I know I have a good advantage no matter who I have to face. Having what my mother calls "Rainbow Chakra" which simply means I can do elemental jutsu with any element, not just my naturally stronger lightning based. But I can use moves like Rasengan, Fireball, Earth Dragon and, Ice Twin Dragon Blizzard. Also, being an Tatsuku gave me the advantages to use nonjutsu attacks, water manipulation, lightning control, throw boulders around and such, but there was one thing about my fighting style that was making me mad. I have a hidden ability...but I have no clue what it is or how it could help me in a fight. I should try to awaken it before the final exam. I started working on my water bending, earth manipulation, lightning control and air manipulation..making some awesome techniques. I trained myself until I feel faint or too sore to move, in which case, I'd take a break; get some water to rehydrate myself. Sometimes, Lee or Neji would come out of thier rooms; Lee usually would be to the point of passing out. Neji would usually just have headaches. And we would talk while we're taking a break. I knew that our three days here would be over quick. 


	13. Chapter 13

(Akimis POV)

The end of the 2nd exam came sooner than I expected. I looked around the tower with Lee and Neji, seeing only a few teams here. That Sand team was here, as well all 3 rookie teams, those Sound ninja, and another Leaf Team.

"There are more people than I expected." Lee started. I nodded.

"21 people in all, and most of us are Leaf Ninja. And those Sound ninja are here..."Neji trailed off.

"The beautiful Sakura is here too!" Lee exclaimed. I turned away from the hopeful, loving look in his eyes as he stared at the pink haired girl. Neji put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked up and smiled half-heartedly at him.

Just then the Hokage popped up with all of the sensei's. He started talking, though I could not pay much attention. My thoughts were on my unrequited love for my teammate. I wished Lee would notice me, look at me like he does her. Even if it was once, I could be happy.

A sick looking man stopped the Hokage, asking to speak. The Hokage nodded, and the man told us that we needed to pass a preliminary test before moving on to the final exam. There were too many of us left, and we would have to fight against each other in order to move on. It would be 1 on 1 and the winners will go on to the final exam.

A computer turned on and randomly drew names for the first match. It was Sasuke and some ninja named Yoroi. He was on that Kabuto guy's team...Kabuto wasn't here for the matches because he decided he was in no shape to fight without rest. Sasuke won, then Kakashi took him somewhere to take care of something.

Next was between Shino Aburame, a bug user, and that Sound ninja with the broken arms (thanks to Sasuke), Zaku. Shino won using his bugs to stop Zakus attacks.

Next was Sand Ninja Kankuro, and Leaf ninja Masumi. He used his puppets to beat her.

Sakura and Ino fought next. Lee was cheering Sakura on. Ino used her Mind Transfer jutsu, to make Sakura quit, but she overcame it and stopped her. They both ended up passing out, meaning that neither of them made it to the finals.

Kiba and his dog was next, fighting Naruto. The thing I found interesting about these 2, was that they both want to be Hokage. Naruto won by transforming into Akamaru, making Kiba think the real dog was actually Naruto.

Then it was time to watch the Hyugas, Hinata and Neji. Neji won by putting Hinata into Cardiac arrest. He went to attack again, but Gai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and the proctor stopped him.

It was Lee's turn, fighting the Sand ninja, Gaara. I was worried about Lee, but I cheered him on. He lost, getting his arm and leg crushed by sand. Gai-sensei stopped Gaara from killing him. I watched, fear in my gaze as Lee was taken to the hospital. Gai came back up to us.

"Is Lee-kun going to be okay?" I asked him, worry in my voice. Gai gave me his 'nice guy pose'

"Of course he will be Akimi!" He told me. I smiled at his enthusiastic exclamation. I watched as Choji went up against Dosu, the last Sound ninja. Dosu won.


	14. Chapter 14

(Akimis POV)

After the last match was over Lord Hokage came forward to talk to the remaining Genin. I wasn't paying much attention, being too worried about Lee. I did hear that the 3rd exam was going to be in one month. Then the proctor came up and showed us a sheet of paper to tell us whom we were to fight.

I was up against Shikamaru, and Neji had to fight Naruto. His match was first. That Gaara kid was up against Uchiha.

*Good luck fighting him. * I fought back a snicker; personally glad I wasn't fighting him.

I ran the second we were dismissed. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop until I made it to the hospital. I waited a moment to catch my breath, and then entered the building.

I saw Gai-sensei talking to a nurse. I walked up to them and he turned and greeted me.

"Akimi! Are you here to see Lee?" He asked. I nodded.

"Lee and Hinata. How is he sensei?" I asked.

"He's resting. Would you like to see him?" The nurse asked me politely. I nodded and she led us to his room, pointing out the room where Hinata was in for me. We walked into Lee's room and I sat down in the chair by his bed.

"You should let your parents know where you are so they don't get worried." Gai-sensei told me.

"I sent out a few Shadow Clones out on my way here. I ordered one to go to my mother and let her know I was visiting friends." I told him.

"A few? Where did the others go?" He asked. Just as I was about to answer, 2 of my clones came in. One was holding 2 Lotus Blossoms, the other, a bowl of water. I put the bowl on the bedside table, and the blossoms on the water. I smiled to myself, which turned into a frown.

"I hope he gets better soon, so he can continue working on his goal." I said quietly, watching his sleeping form.

"Worry not Akimi! He will be up and training in no time!" Gai-sensei exclaimed.

I thought about his goal, to become a splendid ninja, only relying on his taijutsu.

"Akmi, why don't we go to Ichirakus?"

"Go ahead without me sensei. I want to visit Hinata-chan for a little bit." I replied. He nodded and left without another word. I stood up.

"Please be alright Lee. I want to see your smile again." I whispered softly, and left the room.

(Lees POV)

I heard a voice so soft and sweet. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't move them. I tried again, and they opened. I allowed my eyes to check my surroundings.

*I'm in the hospital. Why? * I thought to myself, then I remembered by fight with Gaara.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw a bowl with two lotus blossoms in it. I knew then that Akimi came to visit me; she is the only one that knows they are my favorite.

I felt tired, so I allowed sleep to take me once more. I began having sweet dreams of Akimi and Sakura.


	15. Authors Note

I had a review shortly after I updated Lotus blossom, and the writer made me realize that what happened in the chapter could be taken as Lee two-timing.

I just want everyone to know that this is not what I am trying to express. Lee isn't two-timing. He just simply confused.

For any Inuyasha fans, Lee is in the same sort situation and Inuyasha is.

For those who don't watch Inuyasha, Lee doesn't know who he loves, Akimi, or Sakura.

At first, he thought he was in love with Sakura, but these new feelings he is having for Akimi, is making him question whether he is really in love with the pink haired kunoichi, or his teammate. He will figure things out soon though, I promise.

I hope that clears any confusion, and I apologize for not making it clear in the chapter.

Thank you Echo Uchiha, for bringing this to my attention.


	16. Chapter 16

(Akimis POV)

I walked into Hinatas roo next door to Lees. She too was resting peacefully. I got a vase of water from my final group of shadow clones, and put the 2 lilies I got for her in the vase. I knew they were her favorite. I had been friends with her for a long time. I was one of the few outsiders Hiashi-sama allowed into the house. I helped her and her little sister, Hanabi out with their kunai training, and in return they helped me with chakra control.

I knew all about her struggles, her fathers dislike of her, and how she trains hard to gain his approval. I knew about the conflict between the main household, and the other parts of the clan.

Neji used to hate me because I was friends with his cousin, but that changed when we were put on the same team. He told me why he hates the main branch, about how the side branchs serve the main household, and about his fathers death to protect his older twin brother; Hinatas father.

I guess I'm the kind of person people open up to. The kind of girl everyone feels comfortable around. Or, at least, that is what it seems like.

I heard a noise coming from Lees room. I rushed inside to see nothing out of place. I let out a sigh of relief and sat by his bed. Then the door opened. I turned around, expecting Gai-sensei. But it wasn't him. It was Gaara.

I put a barrier around Lees bed and stood up as he entered the room. I held my arms out, protecting my teammate.

"Move" Gaara said, with no emotion at all.

"What do ytou have against Lee?" I asked, standing my ground.

"Nothing. I just want to kill him." He replied.

"Don't kill him. Kill me instead, but leave him alone." I cried out. He shrugged and brought his sand to wrap around me tightly, lifting me into the air. He was just about to close his fist when a shadow stopped him. I thought I saw Shikamaru and Naruto. THe sand tightened its grip on me and all I saw was darkness.

(Gais POV)

I had just gotten back to the hospital when I heard commotion in Lees room. I rushed to find that Gaara guy, and two rookie Genin, one being that Naruto kid. Who was holding an unconcious Akimi.

"What happened to her?" I asked the boys, as I took her and gently laid her on the couch by the window.

"She was protecting Lee from him and almost got killed." The Nara kid, as I guessed from his jutsu, told me.

A nurse came in to check on Lee and Akimi. We all left the room. The Sand Genin turned to leave.

"I will kill you all, just you wait." He stated, before walking out. The nurse came out of his room. I asked her how Akimi was.

"She just has some brusing on her chest and upper back. She'll be sore for a while but otherwise be alright." The nurse replied. and we went back into the room. Akimi was still resting on the couch, a sheet pulled up to her chin.

*She was protecting Lee. Is it just because they are friends? Or is it something more?*

(Lee's POV)

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Gai-sensei talking to a nurse. My eyes scanned the room, and I found Akimi sleeping on the couch.

"Akimi-chan?" I call quietly. She doesn't answer but, Gai-sensei turns around.

"Let her rest Lee...How are you feeling?" He asks.

"It hurts a little, but I'm alright." I replied. "Is Akimi-chan alright?"

"She'll be fine Lee." He answered. I watched her as she opened her eyes, wincing as she sat up.

"How do you feel Akimi?" Gai-sensei asked.

"Sore." She replied.

"What happened Akimi-chan?" I asked her, concerned.

"Gaara came here, while you were resting." She replied.

"What did he want? I asked, noting her body shaking slightly, as if she were a little cold. she looked up at Gai-sensei, who simply nodded.

"H-he wanted to k-kill you. When I asked why, he said he just wanted to. I stopped his attack, and Naruto and Shikamaru helped me." She answered.

"you took on Gaara...to protect me?" I asked, wide-eyed. She nodded and blushed. I suddenly felt new emotions, as i saw her blush.

*She's even prettier than Sakura-chan. Wait, what am I thinking? She could never feel that way for me!*


	17. Chapter 17

(Akimis POV)

I was so happy to see Lee awake. That smile of his brought out the butterflies in my stomach and made my heart race.

"It's getting late Akimi-chan. You should get home before your parents get worried." lee told me, looking outside.

"Would you like for me to accompany you akimi?" Gai-sensei asked. I shook my head.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Gai-sensei was about to argue. "Come On! i didn't go through all that training with you guys for nothing! I can get home. See you guys later. Get well soon Lee. I'll be back tommorrow, I promise!" i told them, rushing out into the darkening sky. I glanced up at the early night sky to see the first few stars appear. I decided to take a shortcut home.

Big mistake. I was conered by a few drunk street fighters. They threw a few butcher knives at me. I stood my ground, expecting pain. Surprisingly, none of them hit me.

*Hit them in the chest.* I thought to myself. The knives then turned around and hit each of them right in the heart. They all fell, dead.

*Wow...I'm a mover*

I sprinted the rest of the way home, to my worried mother.

"Akimi? Are you alright? You look like your out of breath." Mother called out to me. My father walked into the kitchen.

"Mother! Father! I'm a mover!" I told them when I was able to talk. They looked at me like I had spoken another language or something. I showed them by picking up my moms cookbook and moving it in front of her without touching it. They seemed pretty happy that I knew what my power is.

"We start your training at 3 tommorrow when I get off Gaurd Duty. meet me in the Water room." Father told me. I nodded and went to bed.

(Next day- Akimis POV)

I made it to the trainingfield early, so I decided to work on my element control. I stood by a small pond, making the water shoot at the trees like a high pressured hose. then I made it fall like gentle rain. I controlled it, using it as a small wave, a water whip, and icicle senbon.

I moved on to my earth control, moving small pebles and using them like bullets. I decided to try my moving abilitiy by moving a mall boulder. I lifted it in the air and moved it 50 feet to the left.

Then I used my headband as a blindfold, and made 60 shadow clones. I tried to attack them by senseing thier movements.

Next, I decided to work on my fire and lightning skills. A new self-combusting move Father taught me, and my lightning protection, shooting lightning at many surrounding targets.

I was taking a break when Neji arrived. He was working on his Byakugan.**.** He stopped the jutsu and looked over at me.

"Are you okay Akimi? I heard about Gaaras attack." He asked. i nodded, smiling lightly.

"Who did you hear from?'

"Naruto was telling me and Sakura about how Gaara was about to kill Lee when you stopped him, nealry dying yourself. Shikmaru got him before he could crush you with his sand. Gaara let you go and Naruto caught you before you hit the floor." He told me. I sighed.

"Yeah, that was pretty much it." I replied as Gai-sensei arrived. It was about 6:45. He had us run 6 laps around the village. We ran at about the same speed so was just talked. Well, Neji talked actually, my thoguhts were elsewhere.

"Your worried about Lee arent you?" He asked.

"Yeah. Gai-sensei and I are going to go to visit him after training. Are you coming, or do you have to train with lord hiashi?"

"Train." Was his simple reply.

"I have to train with Father when he gets off work later. He has a new training session he wants to work on."

When we finished our laps we had to spar, than Gai-sensei let us go for the day.

"Shall we go see Lee Akimi?" Gai asked me, giving me his usual nice guy pose.

"Go ahead sensei. I have a quick stop to make first, then i'll be there." I told him, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. 


	18. Chapter 18

!-DIV {margin:0px;}-

(Gais POV)

*I wonder what is up with Akimi* I thought as I made my was rto the hospital. I walked through the village, thinking about how Akimi protected Lee against Gaara yesterday. I walked into his room to see Lee staring at his hands, deep in thought.

"Morning Lee." I greeted him. He looked up.

"Good Morning Gai-sensei! Uh, where is Akimi-chan?" He asked me.

"She should be here in a few minutes. She said she had to make a quick stop somewhere before she gets here." I replied.

"Alright, since she is not here yet, i need to ask you something sensei." He looked up at me.

(Inos POV)

I was sitting boredly im my familys flower shop. It was early in the day, only 10 AM. THe door opened and I saw that white haired girl who was on Rock Lee's team.

"Morning Akimi." I greeted.

"Morning Ino." She replied, looking at the flowers. She picked one up, but I didn't see it until she brought it to the counter. It was a white Lotus blossom.

"Are you visiting Lee todaY? A asked, and she nodded, blushing lightly. I gave her her change and watch her leave.

"See you later Ino!" She called on her way out.

*I think she has a crush on that bushy browed teammate of hers.*

(Lees POV)

I had just finished telling my sensei what has been going on in my mind, and he was smiling at me.

"You should tell her Lee. I have the feeling she feels the same." He told me as there was a knock at the door. A nurse came in to check on me.

"You may leave today after 2:00. You might want to stay with someone. A friend or realitive?

"We'll find someone to help him." Gai-sensei told her.. She left as Akimi came in with another lLotus Blossom.

"Good morning Lee-kun. How are ytou today?" She asked me smiling.

"Great Akimi-chan! In fact I can leave later today. I just need to find someeone who doesn't mind helping me around." I replied.

"I could call my mom and see if you can stay with us." She offered.

"That is an excellent idea Akimi-chan!" Gai-sensei grinned at her. She stepped outside to make the call. Gai-sensei told me to tell her when she came back in. I nodded, blushing a light pink. I just knew she was going to reject me like any other girl. She came back in smiling.

"My parents are happy to help. They said you can use the guest room." She told me. Gai-sensei slipped out of the room to give us some privacy. I silently give a nervous gulp as I tried to think of a way to tell her

"Thank you for helping me, Akimi-chan."

"You don't need to thank me Lee-kun." She told me, giving me a gentle hug. I decided to tell her.

"A-Akimi-chan?" She turned to me. "I-I don't want to ruin our friendship, but...I-I." I trailed off, too embarrassed and nervous to continue. I suddenly felt two warm hands on my cheeks and her soft lips press against mine softly.

I was to shocked to move a muscle. She must have taken my reaction as rejection, because she started to pull away. So I wrapped my arms around her to pull her back to me. I kissed her just as softly as she had, and she returned the kiss. We pulled away for air.

"I love you Lee." She whispered softly to me. I smiled at her and took her hand in mine.

"I love you to Akimi-chan...W-will you b-be my g-girlfriend.? I asked her, nervously as I waited for her answer. She smiled at me and kissed my cheek.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend Lee." She replied. A grinned at her as I held her close. Gai-sensei came back in a few minutes later to see us holding hands. The 3 of us talked for a while.

"It's 1:30 Lee-kun. Do whatever you need to to leave. Let me know when your ready." Akimi told me, getting up. I smiled at her.

"Alright Akimi-chan. And thank you for helping me." I gave her a kiss on her cheek and she blushed and smiled back.

"Youre welcome." She replied shyly, sounding like Hinata-chan. I chuckled lightly causing her to blush more. She left the room. 


	19. Chapter 19

(Akimis pov)

I stepped out of Lees room to wait for him to get ready. I turned to see Neji and my friend Tenten..

"Is Lee alright?" Neji asked me.

"He has to be on crutches for a while. I guess he has bone fragments in his spinal column. He gets to leave the hospital today, but he's going to need some help around for now, so he'll be staying at my house." I replied.

"Are you blushing Akimi?" Tenten asked I nodded. "Tell me the news girl! Whats going on?"

"You guys have to promise not to laugh alright?" I asked. They nodded, agreeing to my simple condition. "Lee and I are together now!" I told them.

"Ahh! You guys would be so cute together!" Tenten squealed.

"About time Akimi." Neji smirked.

"Lee's getting ready to leave now, but he can't sign out until 2." I told them.

"Does your parents know?" Tenten asked.

"know what? That he's staying with us or that we're a couple?" I asked.

"Both."She replied.

"They agreed to let Lee stay, but they don't know that we're a couple yet. That happened after I called them."

Gai-sensei stepped out of the room and told us that Lee was almost finished. I looked at my cell to see that it was 1:57.

"I'll be right back guys. I'm going to go sign him out." I told everyone as I made my way to the nurses station. I came back a few minutes later.

Not even 5 minutes after I got back, Lee came out, trying to comfortably hold his bag. I moved the bag to me and carried it for him. It was kinda heavy. I guessed that he had his leg weights in it because he isn't supppose to where them.

"Ready Lee?" I asked, giving my boyfriend a warm smile. He smiled back and off we went.

We talked for a few minutes and then ran into Naruto and Sakura.

"Hey Akimi, hey Lee." Sakura greeted us.

"Naruto and Sakura-chan!" Lee called to them as we walked up to them, my hand on Lees. Naruto was the first to notice and his eyes widened.

"Woah! Bushy brow has a girlfriend!" he said in a surprised tone. Sakura punched him and grinned at us.

"Thats great you guys!" she said happily. We grinned and thanked her as we walked on. We also saw Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Shino on our walk to my house.

"Mother!" I called. My mom stepped out of the kitchen smailing as she greeted Lee. He bowed slightly and thanked her for letting him stay.

"We're happy to help Lee." She replied, smiling. her smile got bigger when she saw our hands.

I showed Lee house, leading him to his room, which was next to mine. I left him to unpack while I got ready for my trainjing session with father.

We talked for a little while longer as we sat on his bed and held eachother close. I looked up at the digital clock on his nightstand. It read 2:45.

"I have to go train with my father Lee."I told him as I got up. I gave him a hug and a sweet kiss. "I love you Lee."

"I love you too Akimi." he whispered back.

I walked out of the room and let my mother know where I was going. I teleported myself to the lake near our secret meeting area and dove into the water, taking the quickest route to the Water Room.

I decided to meditate while I waited for my father. I sat there, thinking about finally being with Lee. I smiled thinking about him, and hoping that he can heal soon and get to be the amazing ninja he always wanted to be.

My father got there 20 minutes after I did, carrying a bucket. He filled the bucket up with water and we began my training. 


	20. Chapter 20

(Akimis POV)

Father bended some water into the bucket, and turned to look at me as I stood up and dusted myself off.

"Akimi, Are you ready?" He asked me. I looked up at him and nodded. "I want you to lift as much water as you can from this bucket, without bending." I did what he said and concentrated on it. The water lifted from inside the bucket and moved around the room without me even moving a muscle. My father's jaw dropped. He was at a loss for words.

"Good. Now let's try something else." He told me. He did some waterbending to create ice kunai. He then led me to the Tatsuku training field, telling me to aim the kunai at the targets while making them spin. I hit bull's-eyes on all 5 posts. Then he had me move ice blocks that where anywhere from 1 lb. to 11 lbs. we continued for an hour before calling it a day.

"We continue again tomorrow. Earth Room 3PM." He told me. I nodded and thanked him before teleporting myself home. I walked around, looking for Lee. I walked into the bathroom and grabbed some Tylenol, then found Lee watching a movie. I sat down beside him, and he wrapped his arms around me. I smiled at him and he gave me a kiss on the forehead.

(Mothers POV)

"How did training go?" I asked my husband of 14 years.

"Great. Akimi is a true Tatsuku prodigy. She has such great control over her telekinetic powers, it's like she has been training on it for years!"" He boasted, obviously very proud of our daughter.

"Is Lee here?" He asked. I nodded pointing to the couch where Akimi and Lee sat, watching a movie. She had her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.

"It looks like she finally told him." I whispered quietly as I rested my head on my loves shoulder. He smiled at the sight of the 2 Genin.

"Good for her." He whispered back.

(Lee's POV)

"How was training?" I asked my lovely girlfriend. She smiled.

"It went pretty well. My father seems quite amazed at how well I can control my new ability." She told me.

"New ability?" I asked. She nodded.

"I can move things with my mind." She replied, as the remote rose from my lap and floated around the room, then landed in her hand.

"Wow Akimi-chan that was amazing!" I said excitedly. She blushed and giggled lightly before placing a sweet kiss on my lips.

We finished our movie, and Tatsuku-sama called us to dinner, which was homemade curry that could even rival Grandma Sanchos Curry of Life.

After dinner Akimi cleaned up the kitchen, then we hung out in what was now my room. We talked about anything that came to mind, and I could tell she was happy to be in my arms from the look in her eyes. They gleam so beautifully when she was with me.

The other way I could tell she was happy around me is her sweet kiss. It's always so soft and gentle. Just amazing! I just know that she is the one. The one I would protect with my life. My Lotus Blossom.

I thought back to all the time I spent with her. From our Academy days, where she would always stand up for me against anyone that was making fun of me. To our missions and time with Gai-sensei.

This made me think back to the day of the first exam. She looked so sad that day, and I never found out why. I hated seeing her like that, and wanted to do anything to keep her from looking so sad ever again.

"Akimi-chan?" I looked over at her as she relaxed into my arms.

"Yes Lee-kun?"

"I was just wondering, what was bothering you on the day of the first exam? You looked like you wanted to cry. What made you feel that way?" I asked her. She looked up at me with wide eyes, obviously surprised by my question.

"Was I that obvious?" She asked softly.

"I'm sorry if I've upset you Akimi-chan." I told her, wrapping my arms around her. She snuggled close.

"It's okay Lee. I'm fine.'

"Then could you tell me?"

"I was jealous. Because you loved Sakura, and she only ever put you down. Calling you weird even though she doesn't know you. Not like I do. You were so busy trying to get her attention it almost felt like you didn't know I existed. I have loved you for a very long time, and I was afraid that it would only be unrequited. One-sided." She replied. I thought about what she said, and pulled her closer to me.

"You never need to feel that way again Akimi-chan. I will only ever love you; no one else could ever take your place in my heart." I told her. She looked up into my eyes and smiled. A truly happy smile. Her eyes shone in the love she felt for me, and my gaze revealed the same thing.


	21. Chapter 21

(1 month later, night before 3rd exam)

(Normal POV)

Lee had been getting better, little by little over the past few weeks. He was walking around more, only needing to use one crutch. He couldn't do any training yet, which he didn't like very much. However, he did have Akimi, which always made him happy.

The 2 lovebirds' were currently in her room. Lee sat on her bed while Akimi got her ninja outfit and pack ready for tomorrow.

"Lee." She turned to face him. "Are you going to be at the arena tomorrow to watch my match?" She asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Akimi-chan!" He told her with his thumbs up, making her grin happily.

She sat down on her bed next to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands found their place on her hips.

(Akimis POV)

I leaned in to kiss my boyfriend, stroking his silky black hair. Lee kissed me back immediately, rubbing my back. I felt his tongue lightly glide across my bottom lip, politely asking for entrance. I opened up, allowing the appendage in. He happily searched my mouth, and then rubbed his tongue on the roof of my mouth. I sighed happily as we broke apart for air.

"I love you Lee." I whispered softly.

"I love you too Akimi." Came his soft reply.

I pulled him into another kiss, this time begging entrance into his mouth. He granted my request and I searched his mouth, rubbing my tongue against his, earning a quiet moan from the taijutsu master.

We said good night to each other and Lee left for his room. I finished getting ready, thinking about all my training with my father.

Father had me work on everything he could think of. Now I can move up to 9000 lbs with my mind, and I have perfect aim, being able to throw up to 35 kunais at once without moving a muscle. He was amazed. He told me that I was certain to make Chunin. I set my alarm clock for 7AM and fell asleep, dreaming of being a Chunin.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

(Lee's POV)

My girlfriend seems to be excited for tomorrow. She's even happier when I told her that I would be there to watch her.

*Neji made it, and even Akimi. Heck, even Naruto made it to the finals.* I thought, starting to get discouraged.

*I'll never beat Neji at this rate. * With these thoughts I fell asleep.

I woke up at 7 the next day, and got dressed. I made my way to the kitchen when I heard Akimi talking to her mother.

"Where's father?" She asked.

"He had to leave early for Guard Duty. He wanted me to tell you that he apologizes that he has to miss the exam." Her mother replied.

"Oh, well that's alright." She replied, trying to sound cheerful, but failing.

"Don't worry hon. your brothers and I will be there to cheer you on." Her mother told her with a smile on her face. I came in.

"So will I Akimi-chan! I shall cheer you on to victory!" I exclaimed. She turned around and smiled at me. I walked over to her and hugged her.

"Thanks guys." She replied.

"Our Big Sister is the best!" Kito cheered.

"Yeah!" Kiro chimed in excitedly.

We ate our breakfast in silence, and Gai-sensei and Neji knocked on the door.

"Let's go Akimi." Neji told her. We walked over to the arena, holding hands the whole way there.

"Nervous?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I know something bad is going to happen today. But I don't know what it is. Just that it is going to happen during the exam." She told me. I turned a puzzled expression to her. "Kiro told me something is going to happen.

"He is just a child. How would he know?" I asked her.

"He is what my clan calls a Predictor. He can see things that are going to happen in the near future. He said he saw the Sand Ninja running away, a white-faced man, and a giant 2 headed snake. He called it 'Zero Hour.'" She told me. I tried to reassure her, but it didn't seem to help much. We kissed for a moment, and then she ran down the hall to catch up to Neji.

"Good luck Akimi! Neji!" I called to them. They turned. Akimi smiled and Neji just nodded. Gai-sensei got to my side and we made our way to where the spectators were going to be.


	22. Chapter 22

It has come to my attention, that I somehow skipped chapter 15. I apologize for any confusion, or inconvience. I have now updated my story, so that chapter 15 is now up.

Thank you! ^_^


	23. Chapter 23

(Akimis POV)

I walked with Neji towards the other finalists.

"Good luck Akimi." He whispered to me.

"Good luck to you too Neji." I replied. He smirked.

"I don't need luck. Destiny chose Naruto to lose when he was paired with me."

*Here we go with the destiny stuff again. * I sighed inaudibly. We stood by the others and I noticed that 2 people were missing.

"Where's Naruto and Sasuke?"

Not a moment after I asked that, Naruto slid into the arena right in front of the lazy Nara I was to fight.

Genma, the proctor gave a welcoming speech and told everyone except Neji and Naruto to go up to the waiting area where we could watch the matches while we waited. The proctor told them to begin when ready. at first they were just talking, Naruto telling Neji that he vows to win. Neji just talked about how fate decided that he would lose.

When the two actually began the fight, it looked like Neji would win. He caught Naruto in his gentle fist attack, cutting of his chakra network, making it impossible to do any jutsu. I was surprised when red chakra started leaking from Naruto. He was somehow able to release his chakra again, and he did something no one could believe. He beat Neji Hyuga.

His last words to the Hyuga genius were "Because unlike me, you're not a failure."

Next, was suppose to be Gaara and Sasuke, but the Uchiha has not yet arrived. So Lord Hokage and the proctor decided to postpone the match. The only reason was because everyone came just to see those to fight.

Shino Aburame and Kankuro were next then, but Kankuro forfeited the match, which made the crowd angrier then they already were.

I jumped to the ground, just a few feet from the proctor, just as he got ready to announce the next match.

"Who are you?" He asked me.

"Akimi Tatsuku. It's my turn isn't it?" I replied. He nodded and looked up at Shikamaru

"You. Come down here."

He looked like he was about to chicken out, but Naruto pounded on his back excitedly., causing the lazy ninja to fall to the ground.

I thought about the last match he was in that I watched. He was a shadow manipulator. All I had to do was keep my distance. Worked for me, since most of my attacks are long range.

When he finally got up, I took my stance, planning. It would probably be safest to use wind, lighting and maybe even fire attacks. Nothing that would make even the tiniest shadow. I made some hand signs.

"RAZOR WIND!" I called out. The sting of the gust of wind was like extra-sharp kunai knives. Shikamaru dodged it by jumping behind the tall tree standing on the field. The tree was barely able to withstand my jutsu. I made sure not to destroy it with him.

He took this weird stance and looked like he was falling asleep. I thought about my next jutsu and decided to jump back again as he came out of whatever he was in. He used the rat sign. I looked around to see what he might be trying to catch me with. Behind me I found the whole Naruto used to punch Neji in his fight.

I jumped back again just as his shadow went into the adjoining hole. I sighed, deciding to finish the match before I slip up. I used my telekinetic powers to lift him into the air.

"WHAT THE? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" He shouted, freaked out. I dropped him at 50 feet in the air, and he landed on his feet like a cat. That's when he got caught in my fire jutsu.

"I GIVE!" He shouted as the flames closed in on him. I stopped the jutsu with just my mind.

"What a drag, and I had the next 200 moves already planned." Shikamaru stated.

"Winner Akimi Tatsuku." The proctor announced. I smirked, and I teleported myself back to the waiting area to watch the next match.

The feeling from earlier came back, and I thought about what Kiro told me. I watched as Kakshi and Sasuke made it just in time.

I knew that whatever bad thing was going to happen, was going to happen soon.


	24. Chapter 24

(Akimis POV)  
I watched as Sasuke and Gaaras match began. Gaara seemed to have a headache, grasping his head. From the look at his face you would have thoguth he was being tortured.  
The young Uchiha begins by throwing some kunai, but Gaara makes a Sand clone to catch the kunai.  
While I watched the match everyone wanted to see, my mind drifted back to back to what Kiro told me. The only person I can think of that summoned giant two-headed snakes was Orochimaru. Not that I knew much about him. Only stories about how he fled from the village because he was caught expiermenting on children and that he likes snakes. Some people believe that he built the Hidden Sound Village, but that has not yet been confirmed.  
I worried about my father, who was on gaurd duty. I hoped that what ever happens today, that he is away from it and safe in the gaurd towers.  
I go back to watch the match.  
Sasuke uses some high speed taijutsu, and he actually hits match continues with Sasuke trying to dodge Gaaras sand shield, and soon he is circling the Sand Genin at speed that I've only ever seen from Lee or Gai.  
*I bet he used Sharingan when he fought Lee before the 1st exam. This kid is smart.*  
Gaara m,akes a cocoon of sand around him as a defence, and hits Sasuke with large porcupine like spikes whenever he gets too close.  
Sasuke then uses a lightning attack I have never seen before, and I am the lightning expert in my family.  
He is on the arena wall as he collects chakra into his hand, the energy crackling like real lightining. When he is ready, he charges at Gaara and punches the sand cocoon.  
It worked. He got throught the sand.  
Suddenly a monsterlike arm appears from the sand and flaps around for a few minutes before pulling itself back in.  
Gaara breaks his barrier, standing there, holding his wounded shoulder.  
Then it seemed to start raining feathers. A jutsu of some kind. I did not have a chance to analyze the attack when I passed out.  
(Kakashis POV)  
The feathers was a genjutsu. A jutsu to knock everyone out. I looked around. DOwn on the field I watched as The Sand Genin fled, and Sasuke chased after only person up here that remained awake, besides myself and Gai, was Sakura, who used a jutsu to dispell the affect. I told her to wake up Naruto and Shikamru and follow my ninja hound Pakkun.  
(Lees POV)  
I had just woke up. Gai told me that it was a genjutsu used by a man named Orochimaru. I looked around, hoping that my girlfriend was alright. Gai jumped over the balcony. When he came back he had Akimi in his arms. She was still unconcious.  
Kakashi used a jutsu and tapped her. She opened her eyes. She looked around after she woke up to see the Anbu waking everyone else up.  
"What happened?" She asked.  
"It seems that the Sand Village had teamed up with the Sound Village with hopes of destroying us. Lord 3rd is fighting Orochimaru."  
One of the ANBU walked over to Kakshi-sensei and whispered something in his ear.  
"Lord Hokage died in battle with Orochimaru." 


	25. Chapter 25

(Akimis POV)

It was 3 months since the Chunin exams. Since the tragic death of the Third Hokage. Since the attack on Konoha. 3 months since Lee had his surgery, and 3 moths since we got our new Hokage, Lady Tsunade, who is also an excellent medical ninja. She helped Lee by giving him the surgery that gave him his dream back.

1 month since we became allies with the Sand Village.

Lee was having a party tonight. All of our new friends are going to be there. The 9 rookies, Neji, Tenten, and the Sand Siblings. Some people asked if they could bring someone. Lee was fine with that.

I left the house, after letting mother and father know where I was. They didn't mind, as log as there was no alcohol. I told them that Lee couldn't drink.

I found this out one day after a long and tiring mission. Lee, Neji, Gai-sensei and I went over to a little shop for lunch. Lee accidently drank a little of Gai-senseis sake, and the next thing I knew was that Neji and Gai-sensei had a hold of Lee, and that the shop had been reduced to rubble.

Afther that, we knew to keep alcoholic drinks away from my boyfriend. One sip and he is out of control.

I got to my boyfriends hose in no time at all. He opened the door and grinned when he saw me. I helped him get ready for his guests.

Soon, the guests began to arrive. SAskue, Sakura and Naruto were the first to arrive. Then came Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and a girl he called Hanako.

Hanako was a blonde, with pretty purple eyes. She wore a red strapless dress with pruple flowers.

Next to arrive was Shikamru, dragged in by Ino. Chooji came in hand in hand with a girl from my year, Jade.

Jade had green eyes and red hair. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a light blue tanktop.

Finally, the Sand Siblings arrived. The guys introduced there girls as Ami (who was with Gaara) and Kari (who was dating Kankuro. Temari was alone.

Kari had black hair and eyes. She wore a dark purple top and blue jeans.

Ami had brown hairs and blue eyes. She wore a light blue shirt and khakis.

The party was pretty loud, and everyone was ewnjoying themselves. Some people were chatting happily with eacother, Naruto was eating some ramen. Sakura and Ino was fighting eacother again, probably over Saskue. Said Uchiha was trying to ignore both girls.

It got quiet when everyone realized Lee had an announcement, which was for the game 10 minutes in heaven.

"Those who brought dates go into the kitchen, those without will remain in here. Neji, Tenten, Shino, Hanako, Gaara, Ami, Choji, and Jade walked into the kitchen with me. THe others waited for further instructions from Lee.

"So who are you with Akimi?" Hanako asked.

"I'm with Rock Lee." I replied.

"Rock Lee?" Jade asked.

"Who is Rock Lee?" Ami asked.

"He's the one hosting this party." Neji replied.

"How do you know him?"Kari asked.

He's on my team, but we have been friends since we were in school."I replied, just as Lee walked in.

"We're doing to groups at a time. Each partner has been chosen. The first 2 groups have already gone in." He told us as we walked back into the Living room. I waled over to Lee.

"Who got who?" I asked him. He smiled.

"Naruto got Sakura, and Sasuke got Hinata. After thier time is up Shikamaru will go in with Temari, and Kiba will go in with Ino."


	26. Chapter 26

!-DIV {margin:0px;}-

(Akimis POV)

The 10 minutes was over quick, and the next 2 groups went in. Lee told us that Neji and Tenten, and Gaara and Ami were the next to go in.

Finally, 30 minutes later, it was our turn. We walked into Lee's room, and laid together on his bed. He turned to face me and gently pulled me to him and his lips met mine in a sweet and gentle kiss.

When we came out everyone was just chatting. Sakura was dancing with Naruto, while Hinata sat in Sasuke's lap. Ino and kiba were in a dark corner, making out.

"Everyone seems to be having fun. This is a really nice party Lee." I spoke in his ear. He wrapped his arms around me, and I snuggled closer to him.

I am glad they are enjoying themselves." He replied. I kissed him softly on the lips.

At midnight, everyone started to leave. I stayed and helped him clean up. It only took us 30 minutes to get the 2 bedroom house clean.

"Be careful Akimi. I don't want you to get stuck in the storm." Lee told me, as he stood in his doorway. I hugged him.

"I'll be fine Lee. Don't worry." I replied, giving him a quick peck on the lips. We let go of each other with a 'see you in the morning'.

I suddenly got a bad feeling as I walked home, but I couldn't pinpoint the problem.

The party was great. I had a lot of fun and was quite happy to spend the evening with Lee, and all of our friends. I smiled as I thought about the party.

The smile faded as soon as I reached my street.

I ran to the spot where my house once stood. Now it was just rubble. Fear ran through my entire being as I started going through it.

"Mother! Father! Kiro! Kito!" I called, tears forming in my eyes. I searched for any sign. Were they here? Are they alive? Are they dead? I found nothing that would tell me where they were or if they were okay..

I did not quit. I used my powers to lift the piles of brick and rubble.

Then I spotted something, gleaming in the moonlight. It was my mothers favorite necklace. A diamond necklace with small sapphires around the diamond.

My mind and body went numb when I realized that my family was gone, possible dead. On top of that, my home was gone too. I was alone, and homeless.

I was too far gone to notice that it had begun raining, nor did I hear the thunder.

A bolt of lightning struck a tree in what used to be my back yard. The loud crack brought be back into reality. I jumped, just in time to dodge the falling tree.

I ran, not knowing where I was going. My most basic surivival instincts were telling me to seek shelter. I ran as fast as I could without using my ninja speed, my mind was still trying to catch up on tonights events.

I ended up in the park. I ran to the shelter house and hid there.

I did not know how long I waited before sleep took my from the nightmare I now faced, but I happily welcomed it.

The sun woke me up early the next morning. I knew I had training soon, so I made myself as presentable as possible. I ran to the lake before going to the training field.

I got there at the same time as Neji arrived. Lee was already there.

"Good Morning Akimi!" He greeted me. I smiled and walked over to him. He pulled me into a hug, something I needed after the horror of last night.

( Narutos POV)

I was just wandering around, wasting some time on my way to the bridge for training when I saw it. A house burnt to the ground. Curiousity got the best of me. I went over and checked it out. I knew instantly that it was no accident, this has been done by ninjutsu.

I knew that I had to tell Granny Tsunade about it so she can have someone go through it. I decided to run to her mansion.

(Gais POV)

I was making my way to the training field when I heard running footsteps.

"Gai! There you are!" I heard. I turned around to see Shizune walking up to me.

"Lady Tsunade wants to see you and your team. She has a mission for you." She told me. I nodded, telling her that I was just on my way to meet my team.

(Tsunades POV)

I watched as Shizune returned, looking for anything esle she is needed for. I was just about to say something when there was a knock on my office door. Thinking it was Gai and his team I told the perrson to enter.

To my surprise, it was Naruto. He was panting for breathe, like he ran all the way here.

"What do you need Naruto?" I asked the 12 year old.

"I found a house that had been burnt down, I think it might have been by ninjas." He told me. I nodded.

"I'll have your team on it Naruto. Find Kakashi and bring your team back here." I told him and he nodded, leaving the room.

After he left, there was another knock on my door.

"Come in." I called. Gai came in, with his team. I told them that their mission was to take some scrolls to the Hidden Cloud Village to promote friendship. Gai told the three Genin to prepare for the mission. After they left, he turned to me.

"Watch over Akimi on this mission, let me know if she seems any different." I told him.

"Why Akimi, my Lady?"

"I found paperwork from the 3rd hokage. Her family moved here from the Cloud Village when she was three. It is said that some rogue ninja were threatening her family." I replied. He nodded, understanding the situation.

"Is there anything else Lady Tsunade?" He asked.

"No, you're dismissed." 


	27. Chapter 27

(Akimis POV)

After Gai-sensei told us to get ready for the mission I left with Neji and Lee.

"See ya at the gates guys!" I called to them, faking my cheerfullness., as I ran in the direction of the remains of my home, and a ninja supply shop.

I bought a sleeping bag, a shrinking button, chakra, food, and plasma pills, and other ninja tools. Some kunai, shuriken, paperbombs and even a few smoke bombs.

Gai-sensei and Lee were already waiting when I got there. Lee seemed enthusiastic, while Gai-sensei was watching me like I was a toddler. I walked over to my boyfriend and he grinned at me.

"Are you ready for this mission Akimi-chan?" He asked me, excited to finally have something to do. All I could do was nod. I glanced back at Gai-sensei, and noticed that he was trying to watch me without me knowing. He'd turn the second I would look over at him.

I sighed, rolling my eyes at his antics. For a Jonin he isnt very discreet. How is he able to pull of missions where he has to spy on the enemy? He is so obvious it isn't funny.

Neji arrived only a couple of minutes after I did, then it was time for us to go.

"Let us be off thewn with the Power Of Youth!" Gai announced, sounding more eagar then necessary.

-A few hours later-

We made it to the border between the Land of Fire, and the Land of Lightning by sunset. We set up camp and ate some food that Gai-sensei brought.

We all went to bed after that. We had an early morning head of us. Gai-sensei wanted us ready to leave by sunrise so that we could make it to the Hidden Cloud village by noon.

(Dream)

I was 3 years old, watching cartoons in a vaguely familiar living room. I was sitting with my mother and father. They were talking about my training. Father said that I was doing very well.

Then there was a knock on the door. Father used his earth control to see who it was. He was alarmed.

"Honey, take Akimi and hide her in her closet." He told her. Mother picked me up and rushed me to my bedroom. She told me to make myself invisible and stay in the closet.

I did as she said but I was curious. Who was at the door and why did I have to hide? I looked around the dark closet and found a small airvent.

I made myself into air and made my way through the vent to where my parents were. They were trying to stop a ninja from entering the house.

The man had piercings all over his face and he did not seem happy with my parents. He ordered somebody to burn the house down. Then he ran off. I came out of the vent and made myself visible again. The 3 of us rushed out, never to see the Hidden Cloud village again.

(End dream)

I woke up with a start. I looked over at my boyfriend, who was sleeping peacefully. Then I looked over at Gai-sensei and Neji, both of them blissfully asleep.

I snuck past Gai-sensei and Neji and stepped out of the tent. I jumped to a nearby tree branch and sat down, staring at the moon while thinking about how my life had turned out.

I was still in shock of losing my home. and not knowing what happened to my family. Did they perish in the fire? Even though I could not find them there, it was still a possibility. One that I did not want to consider. I truly hoped that they had escaped before the fire. Had Kiro seen it happen and allow them to run, knowing that I was safe with Lee?

-Morning-

"There you are Akimi-chan!" I heard from below me. I groggily opened my eyes, not realizing that I had been asleep, and glanced down. Lee was at the base of the tree, his worried eyes trained on me. I yawned.

"Good morning Lee-kun." I greeted him as I jumped out of the tree.

"Have you been out here all night?" He asked.

"Only half." I replied. "I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to gaze at the moon. Guess I fell asleep."

"You had me worried when I found your sleeping bag empty." he told me, pulling me into a hug.

"Sorry Lee-kun." I whispered as I hugged him back.

After a minute, we pulled apart and got camp packed up.

"On to the Cloud Village!" Gai-sensei called and we were off.

He was right. We made it to the village by noon. 

I looked around. It had been 10 years since I have been here. The dream from last night filtered through my mind. The last memory I had of this place.

I thought back to the reason we left this village. Those men wanted me for some reason. A normal 3 year old.

"Why? Was it because of the powers my clan weilds? Or was it something more?

I pondered this as we walked to the Raikages' office. Lee walked beside me, Gai-sensei and Neji was just in front of us.

Gai-sensei told us to wait outside while he gave the the Raikage the scrolls we were to deliver. We waited patiently for our sensei to return.

We talked about the party, missions, training and other random topics while we waited. We ended up talking about all of the couples that came together because of the party.

Naruto had Sakura, and they were both happy. Sakura finally gave up on getting Sasuke, as did Ino, who was now with Kiba. Even Sasuke found love, with the shy Hinata. Surprisingly, Neji was alright with this, as long as he doesn't hurt her, anyway.

We were talking about how Shikamaru was the only person who was the only Genin that was made Chunin in the exams. Lee thought I deserved to be a Chunin, which made me blush and smile shyly at him. He kissed my cheek.

Then we heard footsteps coming towards us from inside the building and Gai-sensei was back. He had a smile on his face.

"We are now allies with the Land of Lightning." He told us. We all smiled at the news, though mine was a small one. Nobody noticed it though, or at least they didn't seem to.

Being here made my dream, the memory, more real. It made me wonder if there was a connection between the dream and what happened with my family the other night.

Were those men still after me? Did they burn down my home, leaving me with nowhere to go? Did they kill my parents? Kidnap my brothers?

I pondered this as we made our way home, only stopping around sunset to make camp.

(Gais POV)

I have been watching Akimi ever since I left the Raikages office. I knew there was something bothering her.

One thing I hsve noticed as that she isn't as cheerful as she normally is. Her smile earlier, when I told them that we had another ally, proved that.

The second that I noticed was that she is being quiet, too quiet. Even with Lee, which I knew wasn't normal. She hasn't said much since we left the village. Actually, she hasn't said much even before the mission.

"Lee?" I called to my star pupil. He ran over to me.

"Yes Gai-sensei?" He asked. I motioned for him to follow me. I did not want Akimi to overhear our conversation. We walked a short way away camp before I turned to face him.

"Does Akimi seem a little different to you?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I think something is bothering her. She is being awfully quiet. She doesn't seem to be sleeping well either."

"What do you mean?"

"Just this morning I came out of the tent and found her asleep in the tree. Her sleeping bag looked like it hadn't been slept in at all. I don't think she got much sleep the night before either. She seemed tired when she came to the field for our training session." He replied. I nodded, thinking about what he said.

"Let me know if you see any other change in her behavior." I told him as we made our way back to the campsite. I noticed that Neji and Akimi had a nice fire going.

I watched Akimi as we ate. She barely touched her dinner, merely nibbling at her food while staring out into the distance as if she was thinking very hard about something. She usually has a fairly healthy appetite.

Once we finished eating and cleaned up afterwarrds, we settled down for the night.


	28. Chapter 28

(Lees POV)

I watched as my girlfriend fell into a fitfull sleep. I was worried about her. Whatever it was that was bothering her must be really bad. For it to make her behave so strangely must have been serious.

*Will you tell what is upsetting you you so badly, my beloved Akimi? I want to help you in any way I can. I love you, and I hate to see you in so much pain, whether physical or emotional.* I thought, wishing she would tell me soon, so she isn't alone in this.

I fell asleep, thinking about everything my caring girlfriend has done for me.

She must have grabbed my hand sometime in the night, because when I woke up, we were holding hands. I looked down at my sleeping love, to find a peaceful expression on her face.

I smiled, gently running my free hand on her soft, smooth cheek.

She opened her eyes, and smiled softly at me, the first true smile shes worn since this mission began.

"Morning Lee-kun." She greeted me.

"Good Morning Akimi-chan." I replied softly. "Sleep well?" She blushed and nodded.

(Nejis POV)

I watched Akimi as she helped Lee and Gai-sensei pack up camp. She seems to be in a slightly better mood today. Probably because she actually got some sleep. I thought about what she has done on this misson.

It was obvious that something was bothering her. I walked over to her, hoping she would tell us.

"I-I'll sh-show you guys when we get back to the village." She told Lee and me before turning her head away and whispering " I just hope you don't think bad of me for not telling you sooner."

"Why would we think bad of you? You didn't do anything wrong did you?" Lee asked knowingly. She just shook her head.

We left a few minutes after that, heading home. Lee held her hand, silently comforting her.

We stopped for a quick lunch and Gai-sensei pulled me aside.

"Has Akimi said anything to you about what is bothering her?" He asked, taking me by surprise.

"She only told us that she'll show us when we get to the village. Nothing more." I replied.

He nodded, and we went back to where the rest of our team was waiting for us.

We continued on our way until we finally saw the main gates. As we walked closer, I noticed my female teammates growing discomfort. Lee squeezed her hand reassuringly.

She looked over at him, smiled softly and squeezed back gently.

"Come on." Was all she said, and we followed her. We were just about to turn onto her street, when Lee stopped.

"Whats going on Akimi? What's wrong?" He asked, she tensed, and shook her head, unable to reply. I used my Byakugans to look ahead. I gasped, not believing what I saw.

No wonder shes been so upset.

"Did you tell Lady Tsunade?" I sked her. She shook her head again.

"You guys are the first to know." She replied. Lee looked confused, but then he turned the corner and gasped as well.

Her home had ben reduced to rubble. He ran to the center of the mess, then turned to our teammate.

"When did you find out sbout this?" He asked. She slowly walked over to him.

"After your party."

"Why didn't you come back to my house? Where did you go?"

"I didn't want to wake you up. I was in shock. I couldn't move until the tree fell, then I ran. I ended up spending the night at the shelter house in the park." She replied, sounding ashamed of herself.

She turned away as tears formed in her eyes. She cried silently, her body shaking. Lee rushed to her as she fell to her knees, still crying. He pulled her close, and let her cry on his shoulder.

That is how Gai-sensei found us, a few minutes later.

"Akimi..." He started to say, but Lee hushed him.

"She cried herself to sleep." He told us as he stood up with her in his arms. "I'm taking her to my house." He carried her bridal style, and we followed him, worried about our teammate.

(Akimis POV)

I came into awareness to find that I was lying on something comfortable. I opened my eyes and found that I was in a vaguely familiar room. It took me a moment to realize that I was in Lee's guest room. I got up and made my way to the living room.

"Poor Akimi." I heard Gai-sensei say.

"Where is she going to live?" Neji asked. It was the same question I had been thinking for the last few days. I stopped, wanting to hear anyone who could answer, without them knowing I was here.

"She is more than welcomed to stay here. I want to help her in any way I can." I heard Lee reply. I stepped into the room, unnoticed by my team.

"Lee." I whispered. "Do you mean that? You want me to stay here, with you?" I asked.

Everyone looked up to see me standing just a few feet from them. Lee nodded. I smiled as I ran to him. I hugged him and smiled even more when I felt his arms wrap around me.

"Thank you Lee-kun." 


	29. Chapter 29

(Akimis POV)

It's been 2 weeks since my house burned down. Since my family went missing, because no bodies were ever discovered. The Anbu Have searched the enitre area for any signs of my family's remains. There was nothing. I still have hope that I will one day see them again.

It's been 2 weeks since I moved in with Lee. My boyfriend has been so patient with me. So supportive. He was always there when I needed to talk. When I needed to cry, and when I needed comfort.

If I couldn't fall asleep, he would be there, holding me until I could sleep. If I woke up in the middle of the night, frieghtened and upset, he would welcome me into his room and hold me close.

That is where I am now. In his arms, feeling the peace and love I despretely needed. I feel safe, when Lee is with me. This is how I fell asleep, while I held his hand in mine.

(Dream-Akimis POV)

I was in a dark place. I could see nothing. I was sitting on something hard. A wooden chair? My hands and feet were tied to it, so I could not use my earth techniques to sense where I was. I used my normal senses instead.

My sense of smell told me that the place was easy to flood. I could feel no breeze, so I knew that I was in a dank cellar.

I heard heavy footsteps coming my way. I knew it wasn't Lee, because his footsteps are much lighter. A light came on, just above me. I looked around, and realized that I was right, I was in a cellar, but where?

A man came into the room. The same man that was in my memory of the hidden Cloud Village. It was the same man who spoke to my parents. The same man who wanted to take me away from them.

"Where are they? What did you do to my family?" I growled out angrily. He smirked evilly to me.

"Nothing will happen to them, if you cooperate with me." He told me, as he unfastened his belt. I instantly knew what he wanted. I took a deep breath and blew hin into the wall. He nearly passed out. He tried to get up, but was unable to. A man walked in and moved away from him quickly.

"They escaped." Was all the second man said.

"And that mysterious girl?" The first man asked.

"She's gone too."

"How? The cell the were in was made of metal." He thought out loud.

"There is a gaint hole in the back wall of the cell." Was the second mans reply.

While the men were occupied I caught my wrists on fire to burn the rope off. They didn't notice anything. I kept my hands behind my back, as if the were still tied.

The second man left after being told to find the escaped prisoners. That was when I noticed a woman in a cape, who had to be a few years older then me, crawling on the ceiling. She was placing paperbombs all over the ceiling. When she looked at me, I was shocked.

Then she disappeared, but not before throwing a kunai at one of them. I grinned and brought some of the dirt at my feel to create a shield from the explosion, which came only a second later.

Once everything settled, I let the soil go. I looked at the man, and smiled when I realized he was dead. I burned the rope against my ankles, and once I was free, I ran.

(End of dream)

(Akimis POV)

I felt someone gently running thier fingers through my hair. I opened my eyes to see the love of my life leaning over me. I smiled at him.

"Good morning Lee." I spoke softly, not wanting him to stop what he was doing. It was so relaxing.

"Good morning Koi." He replied softly as he leaned down to take my lips. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer as we deepened the kiss. A few minutes later we pulled away, needing to breathe.

We got ready for our training session and walked out to the field hand in hand.

"What are we going to do after training?" Lee was asking me.

"I was thinking about talking to Lady Tsunade about something I feel is really important."

"What would that be?" He asked. I told him about my dream I had when we were on the mission just after his party.

"Then last night, in my dream, I saw that same guy, and one of his lackeys. I was tied up, in the basement of an unknown place. That guy was going to rape me, but the lackey came in and told him that the prisoners escaped and so did this mysterious woman. I saw her, crawling silently on the ceiling, placing paperbombs everywhere. She looked at me, and I realized that she was me, just a few years older. The older me threw a kunai at one of the paperbombs and I made a shield of earth to protect myself from the explosion. The older me disappeared before the explosion." I told him. He was surprised.

"What do you think this means?" He asked.

"I think that man has a hand in the destruction of my home, and that he kidnapped my family. I think they were the prisoners the lackey mentioned. I also think the dream was telling me, in a strange way, what I must do to save them. I'll need your help though."

"I'll help in any way I can, but why do you need my help personally?"

"The man mentioned that the cell they were in was made of metal, and the lackey said they were a giant hole in the back wall of the cell. I think I need to learn how to manipulate metal, like I do earth. With my earth style, I use a little taijutsu and chi control, with a little psychokenis. I could certainly use a little help on my taijutsu, and who better to ask then a master like you?" I said, grinning at him. He grinned back.

"I would be more than happy to help Akimi-chan!" He told me, his voice eagar. I smiled and hugged him as we made it to the field. We were the first ones there, like we usually are now. I meditated, while Lee was stretching. I meditated for about 20 minutes before I got up and stretched. I watched Lee, and tried to imitate him. He helped me get into the right position, and before long I was able to kick just as hard as Lee.

Once Gai-sensei and Neji arrived Gai-sensei taught us new jutsu. He taught me a genjutsu using my earthbending where I could temporarily immobilize my enemy.

When we finished our training Lee and I left. Lee decided to go home and train some more, and I walked over to the Hokages Mansion.

It was time to talk to Lady Tsunade about that man in my dream. Perhaps he was in the bingo book, and she would know about him. 


	30. Chapter 30

(Tsunades POV)

I had just gotten some disturbing news from Shizune. Arashi Kisuto, the leader of the Ninja Gang, Nihoko, was last seen hiding in the Land of Rivers. This gang was known for trying to wipe out all of the powerful ninja clans.

I personally believe that they were the ones responsible for the incident 2 weeks ago. That they attacked the Tatsuku Clan and kidnapped them. It made sense, becuase this same group was thought to have driven them out of thier home in another village. They burned that house as well, trying to kill the family, but they escaped and came here to start a new life.

There was a knock at the door. I told the person to enter, and I watched as the girl I was just thinking about enter the room, and bow.

"Good morning Lady Tsunade." She greeted. I nodded back as she walked to my desk.

"Is something bothering you Akimi?" I asked. She nodded.

"A dream I had, but it wasn't like a dream at all. It was kind of like seeing into the future...as crazy as that sounds. It had something to do with a man I have only seen one time in my life, when I was three." She told me.

"What man?" I asked. She told me of a memory she had of when she was 3. That this man came up to her home and asked her parents to hand her over. When they refused the man and his accomplice burned down their home, hoping to kill them. When asked to describe the man, she described Arashi. Perfectly.

"I know the man you are talking about. His name is Arashi Kisuto, the leader of Nihoko." I told her, opening the bingo book and showing her his picture. She nodded.

" That's him all right. And the gang you mentioned, is it the gang that wants to destroy all of the powerful ninja clans? I think they are the ones responsible the burning of my home, and I also believe that he has taken my family as prisoners." She told me, and explained the dream she had last night.

"I'll have the ANBU check this out. Is there anything else you needed?" I asked. She shook her head and thanked me as she left my office.

(Akimis POV)

I was glad that Lady Tsunade believed me, and didn't think me crazy. I thought about that mysterious woman, the older version of me. If this dream was showing me a future event, then it might mean that I will learn metalbending, and that I would need to use it to save my family.

Until I was ready to save them, I would only be able to hope that they are alive and well, though if this dream was a scene from the future, at least they will be alive.

Until then, I will work hard everyday to prepare myself. I looked to the sky, and made my vow.

_I will save you, Mother, Father, Ni-sans. Aishiteru. Stay safe until I can come to you._


	31. Chapter 31

Stop SOPA 2014. Stop SOPA. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Acts. In this case, all fanart will be deleted, all fan-pages, fanfics (including fanfiction. Net), fan made videos, etc. Please help stop SOPA. 


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